Neon Genesis Evangelion: Evolution Reborn
by sentinel28II
Summary: Riana's training mission away from Tokyo-3 goes wrong when Israfel reactivates early. Now there's only Riana and her training Eva standing between an Angel and Tokyo-3. And she doesn't have an AT Field. Or weapons that can hurt an Angel. Or hope. R&R, please!
1. Dies Irae

**_NEON GENESIS EVANGELION:_**

 ** _EVOLUTION REBORN_**

 ** _An Alternate Universe Evangelion Story_**

 ** _By Sentinel 28A_**

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE: A little background here._

 _Nearly a decade ago (holy crap!) a friend of mine introduced me to_ Neon Genesis Evangelion. _It quickly became my favorite anime series, though today it has to vie for space with_ Inu-Yasha. Inu-Yasha _and_ Spice and Wolf. Inu-Yasha, Spice and Wolf, _and_ Highschool of the Dead. _And…_

 _Er, anyway…_

 _As is usual when I really get into a new series, I begin to think of adventures "between the pages," which is the kind of fanfic most writers like to do. But one of the other fun things about fanficcing is asking "what if?"_

 _A lot of Evafics have tried to answer this question—some good, some bad, some_ very _bad. I tried my hand at it:_ Neon Genesis Evangelion Evolution, _which introduced Riana Arashikaze, the American pilot, raised in a convent, possessing unawakened magical powers, etc. I wrote about 100 pages on it before I sort of lost interest; Riana had the misfortune of really starting to come alive as a character about the time I began rewriting my old_ Battletech _stories and…she sort of got forgotten. Not helping matters were two bad reviews I got calling her a Mary Sue and a more constructive critic, who said he liked the story but thought I was doing too much at once. Not only was Riana an unawakened mage,_ Evolution _took place in White Wolf Game Studio's "World of Darkness," and there were vampires and SEELE plotting against each other, with some werewolves, ghosts and kuei-jin thrown in…_

 _That critique was a good one, and it stuck with me. I stopped writing, walked away, then just deleted the whole story (though Riana does make a brief appearance in "Misato's Revenge," which is pretty popular)._

 _But a few weeks ago, I thought, "You know, most of the reviewers liked the story. Maybe with a few changes, it might still be worth telling." I've been rereading the_ Evangelion _manga (both the Sadamoto retelling and the awesome and hilarious_ Shinji Ikari Raising Project _), and I thought, "Why not?" Besides, it's been awhile since I really sat down and tried to write another long fanfic—and I really enjoyed writing those, back when the buffalo ruled the plains…_

 _So we'll see where this goes. Maybe it'll become another "Snowbird Saga" (in which case, expect the Third Impact chapter in 2020!) or maybe it'll wither and die long before then. But I owe it to Riana Arashikaze to give her story one more try. I hope you like where it goes…even if you think she's a total Mary Sue._

 _And a special big thanks to everyone who reads my scribblings and reviews (hint hint), and to Hideaki Anno and GAINAX for creating such a depressingly fun universe to play in._

* * *

Keel Lorenz ran his fingers across the MicroPad, wishing he could risk printing out its contents. Lorenz was old-fashioned and preferred the feel of real paper on his fingers. Yet he knew he could not take that risk. What was contained on the pad was known to less than fifteen people in the entire world—and twelve of those men were sitting in the room with him.

Lorenz did not like the other members of SEELE. These men fancied themselves an Illuminati, a shadowy cabal who controlled the world from the shadows. The United Nations ruled the Earth of post-Second Impact, a rather quieter, less populated world to be sure, but power was power. No surviving government was left to dispute that fact. The UN did what SEELE quietly asked it to do. Lorenz had no such illusions. These old men craved power. Keel Lorenz craved oblivion, for no human being was older than him.

And the secret to power and oblivion rested in the Human Instrumentality Project.

"Chairman Lorenz?"

Lorenz looked up abruptly. An old man, daydreaming. "Yes?"

His gaze was returned by a hook-nosed man. "What shall we do about Ikari's budget request?"

Lorenz set aside the pad and brought up the figures on the holographic screen in front of him. Yes, another increase in budget. More billions of dollars to add to those already poured into the Evangelion Project. One could not argue with Ikari's results, even if the UN would need yet more billions on top of the Project E funding for disaster relief. The Angels were destroying Japan one kilometer N2 mine at a time. Casualties were in the thousands in the JSSDF alone. None of that mattered to Keel Lorenz or the men who sat in shadow around the table. Or for that matter, to the head of Project E, Gendo Ikari. Lorenz's lip curled upwards in an involuntary sneer. Ikari. The one man who could derail the Human Instrumentality Project, the one man Lorenz was not sure he could control.

Still, Ikari's Evangelions were the only thing standing between the Angels and their goal. He made a quick swipe at the keyboard. "Approve it."

The hook-nosed man swallowed audibly. "Chairman, there is only so much money in the world."

Another man, with a ridiculously large handlebar mustache and a stomach that threatened to burst his shirt buttons, spoke up. "Already some nations are protesting that they're being asked to give too much. The Americans are worried about hyperinflation—"

"What does that matter? When Instrumentality is achieved, will money truly matter?"

The fat man considered that. "Of course, Chairman. You're entirely correct." Lorenz stifled a sigh. Sometimes one needed to remind these men of what they were trying to achieve.

"And Ikari?" This from a blond-haired, square jawed man, the youngest of the thirteen.

Lorenz thought about Gendo Ikari. There was always the temptation to simply have Ikari eliminated. It would not be difficult. Nor would it affect Project E overmuch. From what Lorenz knew—and he knew everything of what happened underneath Tokyo-3—Gendo was not popular. Even his son hated him. Command would be turned over to the older, more pliant Fuyutsuki. The Evas would stop the Angels, and Instrumentality would continue. One word, and Gendo Ikari would die.

Yet Lorenz, again, did not give that word. Only Gendo Ikari knew exactly how the Evangelions worked. He made sure of that. If Ikari was killed and the Evas somehow stopped working, then the Angels would achieve victory and all of SEELE's plans would die with humanity itself. Ikari also knew where the bodies were buried, both figuratively and literally, and might be more dangerous dead than alive, where he could be used as a catspaw. Dead, Gendo Ikari might be able to bring down SEELE along with NERV and everything with it in an act of awesome revenge.

Lorenz wondered if that was Ikari's intention.

"We do nothing about Ikari," Lorenz said at length. "He knows how far his leash can go. There is nothing he can do to us—"

At that moment the door exploded.

The shockwave hit Lorenz a microsecond before the sound assaulted his ears. He was slammed back into his chair, but his reaction was one of surprise rather than fear. Five of the thirteen were blown out of their chairs; others fell out of them out of shock. The explosion was not the shock: it was that someone had found them.

That someone had dared assault them.

 _Ikari,_ Lorenz thought, but no, the person coming through the door was not Gendo Ikari. He was a scientist; as far as Lorenz knew, Ikari did not even know how to use a gun. To find their way to SEELE, one had to first find them, then penetrate through layers of security who did not even know what they guarded.

Lorenz's cybernetically-enhanced eyesight saw through the smoke before the others did. It was as much of a shock as the door being blown off its hinges. " _You!"_ he said.

The figure that walked through the door did not acknowledge him. Instead, it dropped the smoking tube of a rocket launcher on the floor. Lorenz could see that she—despite the flak jacket and camouflage, the figure was undeniably female—slightly dragged her left foot, the leg soaked in blood. Her arms were fully operable, however: she drew a pistol from her vest. Without hesitation, she shot the two men closest to the door. Stepping over their bodies, she reached another, a man with mutton chops. He had taken a fragment of the door to his head, and blood poured from his caved-in face. The woman shot him nonetheless.

She shot all of them. The hook-nosed man screamed for mercy; she hauled him to his knees, put the gun to the back of his head, and killed him. The fat man put up his hands defensively, shouting that she would never get away with this; she thrust the pistol between his hands and killed him as well. The blond man sighed and asked the woman to shoot him between the eyes and make it quick. She obliged him.

And then they were alone.

"It's you," he repeated.

"Yes," was the only answer he got back.

"Why?" He motioned around him.

"I don't know what you are doing here, Lorenz…or whatever name you're using now. But it has always been the same with you."

"Just as it has always been the same with _you,_ my dear. What name are you using these days?"

"I don't think that matters right now, does it?"

"No, I suppose not." Lorenz briefly considered telling the woman about Instrumentality. Would she agree? She would be a powerful ally; moreso even than the now dead men around him. Surely she must be as tired as he. Either way, he would win. "Do we have time to talk, my dear? We have guards—"

"You _had_ guards," she corrected.

"Ah. You always were thorough. I do remember that town…what was it again?"

"If you're stalling, Lorenz, don't bother. No help is coming."

"I did not think so." Lorenz leaned back as much as he could, staring at the ceiling. "We are the human race, dearest one. Born from the black moon. The false successors. We are foolish human beings, capable of resentment and hurting one another…unable as ever to understand each other." He regarded the woman. "As you only know too well."

"Shut up."

Lorenz ignored her. "As false successors, our future is now in deadlock. We have but one hope left to us: to be reborn as true successors, and as children of God." He slid the pad towards her. "This is Instrumentality."

She glanced down at the pad, pointed the pistol downwards and shot it. Fragments spalled around the room; it sparked and died.

"That was your last shot."

"I know." She reached behind her and pulled out a broadsword. It hissed as it came free of the scabbard; not the _sching_ of a movie sword, but a long, drawn-out serpentine noise of steel on leather. "Bullets can't kill you, Keel Lorenz. Explosives can't either. I tried, as you remember." His back involuntarily spasmed as he remembered. What was left of his actual back. "I thought I would try steel."

"You have tried that as well."

"Not this steel, I haven't." She held it up to the light, ran her fingers down the fleur-de-lis imprinted on the blade. "The sword of a saint. It took me awhile to find it, but I think it'll do the job." She smiled at him. "It's what you always wanted, isn't it?"

His heart leapt. Then he remembered. "I am cursed," he said sadly.

"So am I."

"You cannot free me from this curse."

"Only one way to find out."

Lorenz leaned forward and opened his collar. He smiled up at her. She did not know that Instrumentality would continue, even without him. There were others, others more powerful than himself, than even this woman before him. She might could change the act, perhaps the cast, but the ending would not, could not be rewritten. "Answer me one thing. You owe me that much. Why?"

"All right." She walked around him, and he felt the cold steel against his neck, even through the metal of his backbone. "Because I think that humanity's future has not yet been written, and that neither you or I have the right to write it for them. They aren't the false successors. We are."

"You are wrong. Where I go, you cannot follow," he quoted.

"Where you go, I've already been."

His smile broadened. "Then strike true."

She did, and Keel Lorenz was finally free.

* * *

The moment Gendo Ikari opened the door to his office, he knew something was wrong.

The door slid shut behind him, and he looked across the office to his desk. It was dark, very dark, with the only real light coming from the symbols etched into the floor and the ceiling. The light was hellish and red. He did not look at the symbols; he knew them by heart. It was the other person in the room, sitting behind his desk, hidden by the darkness.

"Don't call for your guards," the figure said. It was a female voice, which spoke in fluid Japanese. "I've already killed a lot of people this week, and I'd rather not add to the total."

Ikari walked forward, unafraid. If the person was here to talk, that was fine. He was convinced he was right, and nothing would sway that conviction. If the person was here to kill him, it meant he would see Yui that much sooner, which was also fine. "It would be nice if I had the pleasure of your name."

His desk lamp snapped on. "My name is Rissa Arashikaze."

Ikari nodded. "I have heard of you. You work for the United Nations. It explains how you got in here." He stopped and put his hands behind his back. "There was no need for melodrama. You merely needed to request a meeting."

"No need for melodrama?" She snorted. "Coming from a man whose office is lined with mystical symbology and God knows what else? Who commands a project with Biblical overtones? Who has never been seen without a black suit, red shirt, and white gloves? Melodrama is your stock in trade, Gendo Ikari. It's how you get your way, spending more money than the entire history of the human race on these machines." She shrugged. "I admit it does get the job done." Arashikaze reached down, behind the desk, out of sight. Then she threw a metal spine on the desk. Ikari suppressed a start at the sight. He knew instantly what it was.

"You recognize it?" Arashikaze more demanded than asked.

"I do. It is Keel Lorenz's cybernetic spine." Ikari noticed the blood and bits of flesh that were still stuck to it.

"Keel Lorenz is _dead,_ Ikari. I killed him. Then I tore out his goddamn backbone." Arashikaze stood. "Lorenz and his little coven…SEELE, is that what they were called? I assume you know." Ikari nodded. "They're all dead. I killed every one of them."

Ikari shrugged. "They mean nothing to me."

"That's good, because I brought this here as a warning." Arashikaze came around the desk. "I don't know what you and SEELE were planning, Ikari, but it is over. You and NERV have done a good job in protecting this planet from…whatever the hell those things are. That's why you're still alive."

Ikari met her gaze calmly. He towered over her; Arashikaze was rather short. "I suppose I should thank you, then."

"You're welcome."

"And I suppose there is a price."

Arashikaze blinked in surprise. "Rather perceptive of you."

Ikari half-smiled. "There is always a price. I imagine I shall have to pay it, in return for my life."

"My granddaughter, Riana. She's interested in the Evangelion program. She wrote a letter and passed the initial exams. I know those exams are a sham—NERV hasn't accepted anyone but the three pilots you have, and one of those is your son. Riana doesn't know that, however. She wants to be a pilot, God alone knows why. I want you to expedite it."

Ikari bit back a laugh. "It's not as simple as that."

"Of course not. If she fails, fine, but she deserves at least a chance."

"How old is she?"

"Fourteen. She'll be fifteen in a few months."

Ikari nodded again. "I can make no guarantees."

"I don't expect you to. Give her a chance. That's all I ask."

"Why?" Arashikaze glared at him, but Ikari did not flinch. "Why does she want to pilot?"

Arashikaze hesitated a moment, then told him. "Riana has this strange thing called 'idealism.' She wants to serve. Her family has, and she wants to continue on with the tradition. I'm against it, but I figured that it would be better to contact you directly rather than have her do something stupid like run away to Japan. She's rather thickheaded in that fashion, which she clearly gets from me. In any case, it is a genuine desire to help others. I'm sure you've felt that, at least once."

"As have you."

Arashikaze smiled, though there was little humor in it. "Once upon a time. Do we have a deal?"

"I find it hard to believe that you murdered several men just to help your daughter's whims."

This time there was humor in the smile. "No, that was personal. And a long time in coming. This is just icing on the cake, as it were. I have you in my debt, Gendo Ikari, so I might as well collect."

"And if she fails…"

"I won't kill you if she fails."

"And if she dies in the line of duty?"

Arashikaze's expression went somber. "Then she'll join a long list of her ancestors who have died for this cause or another. If she dies fighting, then I won't hold it against you, but I will investigate. If I find you had something to do with it, your death will neither be quick nor easy." She poked him in the chest, which was not terribly intimidating, since she had to reach up to do it. "I can't be killed, Ikari. You can. Remember that." Ikari said nothing in response, so she moved past him. "I'll be taking my leave. I'll let myself out. I expect to hear something in the near future regarding my granddaughter. I'll leave it to you to dispose of Lorenz's parts, or frame them, or whatever."

Ikari walked behind his desk. "There was a rumor, Miss Arashikaze, that Lorenz could not be killed either."

Arashikaze stopped at the door. "It seems they were wrong."

"You shall have my answer within 48 hours."

"Good." She turned to look back at him, and to his surprise, her voice was soft, and cracked. "She's a good girl, my daughter. Please…" She broke off the sentence, opened the door, and left.

Ikari sat down. He opened a drawer in his desk. The pistol was still there. He shut it, steepled his hands, and regarded Lorenz's spine.

And then Gendo Ikari began to laugh.


	2. King of Pain

_Atop the Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _11 October 2015_

Kozo Fuyutsuki paused as he reached the door to the roof. There were only three flights of stairs to go up from the elevator landing—one of many emergency exits from the underground Geofront—but he was winded. He was truly getting too old for this sort of thing. That thought brought a chuckle. "It's not the years," he told himself aloud, "it's the mileage." He took a deep breath and opened the door.

It was raining. Not a downpour, but a light drizzle, which cooled the city from the day's heat. After being underground all day, breathing recycled air, it was refreshing to smell the rain and the faint scent of pine from the tree-lined hills around Tokyo-3. He made sure the plastic was secure around the folder he carried and walked towards the solitary figure on the roof of the two-story building.

Gendo Ikari stood unmoving, despite the fact that his hair was soaked, gloved hands clasped characteristically behind his back. When he had first met Ikari so many years ago, Fuyutsuki thought him to be somewhat odd, driven by his work. The years had not changed that opinion, though Fuyutsuki respected Ikari very much; he just could not recall if Ikari was ever content with the present moment. Happy, certainly—but only with Yui, his wife, the only person on the planet who claimed to understand him. Satisifed, yes. But never content. When Yui and Gendo brought him onto Project Evangelion, Fuyutsuki wondered if the project was consuming the younger man. Now he knew for certain. Nonetheless, there was no one else.

"Professor." Ikari's voice was quiet and yet commanding. Though Fuyutsuki's title was Vice-Commander of NERV, Ikari liked to use the older man's title when they were alone.

"Commander." Fuyutsuki stopped just short of Ikari, a respectful distance, and waited.

A few silent moments went by, broken by the patter of the rain. "Yui always liked the rain," Ikari said wistfully, surprising Fuyutsuki. When he said nothing, Ikari half-turned, regarding the old professor out of the corner of one eye. "You remember?"

"Yes. Keeping her attention on a rainy day was always a task." Fuyutsuki smiled with the memory. "I must admit I was surprised to find you up here."

"Contrary to popular belief, I do not spend all my time in the office." The drizzle began to slacken, and blue sky appeared through the clouds."I know you did not come up here to remember old times, Professor."

"I'm afraid not, Commander. This just came in." He handed the folder to Ikari. The commander opened it and scanned the first page. The faintest twitch of a smile went across Ikari's face. "I hope the package was scanned for bombs."

"Should it have been?" Fuyutsuki knew when Ikari was being sarcastic, but wondered what brought it on.

"A small joke. I half expected such unpleasantness to be delivered personally." He flipped through the plastic-coated paper sheets. "Have you read this?"

"Yes."

"What is your opinion?"

Fuyutsuki paused a moment. "I believe Riana Arashikaze would make an excellent candidate for an Eva pilot."

Ikari's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oh? Explain."

"Her scores are excellent. Her physical statistics place her in the highest percentile—she's more athletic than the three pilots we have now…though there are candidates in the reserve pool who are as good."

"Not surprising, given her heritage. Go on."

"Her mental statistics are the equal of Shin—" Fuyutsuki caught himself just in time. "Of Pilot Ikari's. They are below that of Pilots Ayanami and Soryu, but not far below."

Ikari shook his head. "Not enough. As you said, we have reserve pilots who are just as skilled." He tapped a notation on one page. "And those can speak Japanese fluently, rather than just a few phrases here and there."

"All true," Fuyutsuki admitted, "but there is also the political dimension. Despite her last name, Riana Arashikaze is American. She's barely one-quarter Japanese, since her father was Japanese-American. The Americans lost as much in Second Impact as we did, but they are still quite powerful and influential with the UN. Much of our funding comes from them, and lately they've been making grumblings about slicing that funding, despite the fact that EVA-03 and 04 are being built there."

"The Americans have been rather bothersome about the pilots. Rissa Arashikaze particularly so." He tapped the sheet. "This is nepotism, and little more." He held up a hand to forestall what Fuyutsuki was going to say next. "We both know Pilot Ikari is a different case—"

"—but the Americans do not," Fuyutsuki finished. "If an American is directly involved, I would think they would be less likely to criticize funding. They would have a personal and national stake in it, even if Riana's identity was not publicly known." He nodded towards the folder. "As you mentioned, there is her upbringing. We know very little about Riana's parents, other than they died in Second Impact or soon thereafter. As for her grandmother, all we know of Rissa Arashikaze is that she was married to a Japanese man and was a minor functionary in the Central Intelligence Agency. After Second Impact, she somehow ended up in control of the amalgamated US Special Forces. She's trained the UN's force. In theory, Rissa is Riana's guardian, but Rissa's job has kept her away for the most part. Riana's been raised at a convent in the American Pacific Northwest."

"A convent." Ikari read the paper. "That does tend to instill in someone a deep-rooted sense of duty. Something our pilots have trouble with from time to time." He glanced up to Fuyutsuki, looking at him over the tops of his tinted glasses. "But duty to whom, Professor? I have enough spies running around the Geofront as it is. We don't need to add another."

"There's an old saying: keep your friends close and enemies closer." Fuyutsuki smiled ruefully. "And honestly, I do not believe a teenager raised in a convent would make a good spy. I believe Riana Arashikaze genuinely wants to help humanity. It comes through in her letter." Fuyutsuki shrugged. "It is your decision of course, Commander, but we could be squandering an opportunity. When EVA-04 and 05 arrive, we will need more pilots."

Ikari flipped through the remaining papers, then handed the folder back to Fuyutsuki. "Very well, Professor. Bring Riana Arashikaze here. We'll test her and see how far she is willing to go."

The speed of Ikari's assent surprised the older man. Gendo Ikari was not the kind of person to so quickly agree to something that might change the Evangelion program. Fuyutsuki wondered—silently, to himself—if Ikari had already known. "Yes, sir."

"Please inform Dr. Akagi when she returns from the Jet Alone fiasco that I would like to speak with her."

"Of course, Commander. Are you coming back downstairs?"

"In a few minutes, Professor." Fuyutsuki knew when he was being dismissed, so he gave a small bow and left. Ikari stared after him for a few moments, then turned to look back at Tokyo-3's soaring buildings. He smiled slowly. Rissa Arashikaze was as good as her word, and he would keep his. Without SEELE to worry about, he felt strangely liberated. There were still the Angels to deal with, of course, but now he knew that NERV's agenda was solely his own.

He also had to deal with Arashikaze—both of them—but Ikari knew the old tradition of sending children into an enemy camp as a hostage, to seal an alliance. He was quite sure that Rissa Arashikaze knew the same tradition. The only question was who such an alliance would be aimed against. Not everything was clear. Not yet.

As for Riana Arashikaze, she held possibilities. Fuyutsuki's folder only contained half the story. Despite what others thought, some human feeling remained in Gendo Ikari. He did not like to lie to his old professor. He did not want to tell Fuyutsuki that the decision about Riana Arashikaze had been made days ago.

Ikari suddenly remembered a tune from his childhood, and his smile got larger. "Yes," he said softly, "it _is_ a kind of magic."


	3. Hazy Shade of Winter

_Convent of the Order of St. Joan_

 _Lolo, Montana, United States of North America_

 _12 October 2015_

The Mother Superior sighed. "No, I'm afraid that's not going to work." She stepped closer to the choir. "You're still too flat. There's no spirit in your song! You must project your voice, out and away from yourself. _Ave Maria_ is not just a song, but a prayer as well." She smiled to show that she was not angry. "As the saying goes, once more, with feeling." She stepped back, retrieved her baton, and raised her hands. As the small choir took a deep breath, the door to the small chapel burst open, and with it a blast of arctic air. The choir dissolved in shrieks at the sudden cold.

The Mother Superior whirled; the baton came up defensively, old instincts in action. She half-expected a gang of bandits, but it was a short woman dressed in a heavy coat, snow pants and boots. "Where is she, Shannon?" Rissa Arashikaze demanded.

"Rissa, this is a house of God. There is no reason for this overly dramatic—"

"God can take it up with me later. Where is my granddaughter?"

The Mother Superior pointed vaguely towards the back of the church. "Shoveling the walk behind the church. She's…in a bit of trouble."

Rissa spun on one foot and walked towards the door. "You have no idea, Shannon."

It was the first real snow of the season, only a few inches deep, though the large snowflakes falling to the ground promised more. Riana Arashikaze hummed a tune to herself as she shoveled the concrete walk. She had no reason to feel happy, because she was working off demerits, but she loved the snow. It was just cold enough to snow, and for the air to have a bite to it, but not bitterly cold.

Then she heard footsteps, turned, and the temperature seemed to drop some. It was an illusion, of course, but Riana felt the cold hit her stomach and turn into an icy ball. Normally meetings with her only living relative were joyous occasions, but from the look on her grandmother's face, this was going to be anything but. Riana put her best face on it and smiled as prettily as possible. Sometimes it worked to defuse her grandmother's temper, but not often. "Good afternoon, Gramma."

"Don't even start," Rissa snapped. She stopped just short of her granddaughter. "Just because you're almost fifteen and taller than I am doesn't mean I can't take a belt to you."

Riana involuntarily swallowed in fear. Two years previously, Riana had discovered this wonderful new invention called 'boys' and began chatting with one online. That had led to a promise of a meeting, and an elaborate web of lies to disguise her plan to sneak out one night to town. Rissa Arashikaze was a firm believer in the old adage of spare the rod and spoil the child. Riana knew what she had done this time as well, and given the stakes, a belt might be the mildest punishment she could expect.

"I can see it on your face," Rissa said with an angry nod. "You _know_ why I'm here."

Riana looked at her boots. "Gramma, I had to do it."

"No, you didn't!"

Riana's head came up, and though it took an act of sheer willpower, she met her grandmother's stare. "I had to do it," she repeated firmly. When Rissa did not reply, Riana added, "Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Not yet. Get back to the dorms, get out of that gear, and be at the dojo in ten minutes." When Riana opened her mouth to protest, Rissa peeled back her glove to expose her watch. "Nine minutes and fifty seconds."

Riana nearly slipped and fell in her hastiness to get to the dorms.

"Choose your weapon, Riana."

Riana was dressed in a karate-style _gi_ , but her grandmother was dressed in what she had come in, sans the winter gear: blouse and slacks. Riana hesitated, but the look on Rissa's face told her that if she did not choose a weapon, one would be chosen for her. Defiantly, she walked to the dojo's weapon rack. Nearly every form of melee weapon—or at least nonlethal versions of them—could be found there. The Order of St. Joan came about in the aftermath and chaos of Second Impact, and Shannon Masters was determined that her girls would not become the victims of random rape and murder. It was less a compound than a fortress; the dojo was concurrently large.

Riana reached out and took a staff. It was her favorite weapon, what she had trained in.

"Good choice," Rissa commented. She walked to the weapons rack and, to Riana's surprise, took out a spear. Rissa was known to be a mistress of the sword, and boasted—with good reason—that there was no one alive or dead that could beat her with a blade.

"Positions," her grandmother commanded.

Riana took some steps to separate the two of them. "Gramma, don't you think we should wear some armor or something? We could get really hurt—"

"Do you think I can't use a spear so as not to hurt you?" Rissa touched the tip of the spear. It was blunt, a training weapon, but could still go through skin if enough force was applied.

"Well, I suppose, but my staff could break bones."

Rissa wryly smiled. "Let's see you try, then." She let the spear fall to a parade-rest position.

Riana was taken aback. Sparring with her grandmother was nothing new; they did it every time they visited, but always in a fun manner. It was good training, but there was never anger. Now Rissa was angry, and Riana was not sure she wanted to fight.

"Don't have the courage? I didn't raise you to be a coward. Or perhaps that's the sisters? Thou shalt not kill?" Rissa sniffed derisively. "What bullshit. No wonder Christianity couldn't conquer the world. I never thought it would weaken you to the point where you won't fight—unless you're scared of your old grandma. Is that it? Are you scared?"

Riana's eyes widened at the blasphemy. She was being taunted, and she did _not_ like being taunted, no matter who. Every bully that ever picked on her rose in her mind's eye, and Riana, with a shriek of rage, charged. She was halfway through a vicious overhead swing before she realized she had been baited into a trap. Rissa moved like a striking snake: her spear went from one hand to two, blocked the strike with a crack of wood on wood, then swung the spear tip down at her granddaughter's head. Riana instinctively dodged to protect herself, but Rissa brought up the blunt end and caught Riana in the stomach. Riana coughed, nearly threw up, and doubled over, which left her defenseless. A second sweep and she was flat on her back. Rissa stood over her like a vengeful Amazon, and the spear point flashed down. It buried itself in the dojo's mats, taking some of Riana's brown hair with it.

"You do _that_ where you're going," Rissa hissed, "and you'll be a dead girl. A _very…dead…girl_." She emphasized each word.

It took Riana a moment to realize that Rissa meant Japan. "Then…I…"

The spear point was pulled from the mat, but just to bat Riana against the head. "I know about the letter. And you've been accepted. I saw to that."

Riana got to her feet. She meant it to be a leap to her feet, but it was more of a half-jump. It looked awkward, and that just angered her more. "No, Gramma! I wanted to do this on my own!"

The spear swept her legs out from under her again and Riana landed on her rear end. Rissa's voice rose. "You don't get it, do you? You think this is a game? You think what's happening out at Tokyo-3 is a game?"

"No!"

"Do you know _why_ you were accepted? Why that son of a bitch Gendo Ikari agreed to it?"

Riana faltered. "I thought—"

"No!" Rissa shouted. "You _didn't_ think! He agreed to it because—" Rissa stopped herself just in time. She did not want Riana to know that a dozen men were murdered for her chance. SEELE needed to die for other reasons, but the main reason, Rissa told herself, was sprawled at her feet. She was not about to let those old men get anywhere near her last remaining relative. So they had died, all of them, but Riana did not need that information. Not yet.

So she gave Riana the other reason. "Because you're being used as a symbol," she finished. "You're an American, and when the vote comes up next month at the UN over NERV funding, Ikari will be happy to announce that there's an American Eva pilot. Oh, he won't name you, so you can forget a Medal of Freedom, but it won't matter. He'll wave the red, white and blue, and the US representatives will applaud and vote him all the trillions he needs." Rissa sighed. "I love this country, but there are times we're easily led around by the nose." Her attention returned to Riana. "NERV is coming for you in three days."

"I know. They called this morning," Riana replied. "One of the sisters drove me into town two days ago…I got my passport updated, all my shots…" Her voice trailed off as she realized that Rissa's cooling anger was back in the red again. "Gramma, please! I know what I did was wrong, but there's no way you would've let me do this!"

"Finally, you're right about something!" Rissa exclaimed. "Do you know why I wouldn't let you do this? Because Gendo Ikari is a grade-A lunatic! An incredibly gifted, brilliant lunatic, mind, but still crazier than a shithouse rat!" The vulgarity seemed to bounce off the walls. Her eyes blazed, but to Riana's surprise, she saw tears gathering at the corners of Rissa's eyes. "We've been funding NERV since it was founded, Riana. The US kicked in its share—more than its share—of money we desperately need for rebuilding, because Ikari and his backers convinced the UN that something was coming to destroy the planet."

"Right," Riana interjected, "the Angels."

"Yes, the Angels. And Ikari's Evas are the only thing we have that can stop them."

"But Gramma, that's my point—"

Rissa overrode her. "Riana, there are three Eva pilots that the CIA knows of. _Three._ Oh, I know that NERV says it's a vigorous screening process, pilots have to be teenagers because of the Eva's interface, etcetera. They would still have a gigantic pool to choose from, Riana, and there's only three pilots. If the Angels are as big of a threat as Ikari claims they are—and to be honest, that's the one thing I agree with him on—then he should have more than three. He should have three dozen.

"And that's what scares me, Riana." Rissa's voice suddenly softened. "You sent that letter a month ago. You got a reply back this morning. They don't know you from Adam's housecat and they just _happened_ to pick your name? I didn't believe that, Riana. Neither should you."

"Well…NERV said that this was just an opportunity. They haven't made a final decision yet—I'd have to train, of course, and undergo more testing…"

"Riana, give your brain a chance!" Rissa exclaimed. "Ikari _knows_ about you. He knows about your parents. He knows about your aunt and what happened to her at Yucca Flats after Second Impact. He may even know a little bit about me. You've had your first period—"

"Gramma!" Riana blushed. "That's sort of private!"

"A girl's first period is nothing to be ashamed of, Riana. It means you're becoming a woman." Rissa shrugged. "I haven't been spying on you; the Mother Superior told me last time I called. That's when I found out about the letter…but you're missing the point. Ikari intends to _use_ you, Riana. Use you until you're no longer useful."

Riana was quiet for a moment, then got to her feet. "I don't blame him." At the look on Rissa's face—which was somewhere between shock and apoplexy—she continued, "Gramma, what if Ikari's telling the truth about the Angels? What if you were in his position? Wouldn't you want to use every weapon you could get your hands on?"

"I would _not_ use a teenage girl."

"Yes, you would, Gramma. You just wouldn't use one you were related to." At her grandmother's expression, Riana knew that hit home. "That's why you're here, isn't it? You're afraid to lose me."

Rissa opened her mouth, closed it, and then walked slowly to the weapons rack. "Yes," she said quietly, "I am. I'm very much afraid. Because if Ikari is right, those three teenagers—and you, maybe—are the only thing standing between the human race and Armageddon. And there may be other pilots we don't know about, ones that have been killed There's been rumors." She placed the spear back in its place. "What scares me most of all is that he _will_ accept you, Riana. I _know_ he will." She faced her granddaughter. "Please tell me you're scared."

Riana nodded. "Of course I'm scared. I know I might die. But at least I'll die helping to save others."

"Oh no," Rissa moaned. "The nuns have been telling you too many martyr stories."

"No. Well, sort of. I mean, this place is named for a martyr, after all. But it's not that, Gramma. Dad died serving others. Mom was so badly injured helping others that she died giving birth to me. And I know Auntie sacrificed herself at Yucca Flats." She stared straight into her grandmother's eyes. "I have to do this. This is what I am. This is what Arashikazes do."

Rissa stepped forward, but then her features dissolved into a mask of grief. She sank onto the mat, onto her knees. Riana instantly was at her side, half-suspecting her crafty grandmother to fake the tears in order to try a guilt trip where persuasion had failed. Yet it was no act. Rissa was crying in great heaving sobs, the tears falling to the mat, her chest heaving. "Oh God…hasn't my family paid enough? Haven't I paid enough? Haven't we paid enough blood, God, why, we're all dead now, don't take my Riana too…" She rocked back and forth, repeating the words like a mantra. "Don't take my Riana too…"

Riana, unsure of what else to do, held her grandmother like a child.


	4. Wicked Game

_NERV Headquarters, the Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _12 October 2015_

Ritsuko Akagi stared up at the ceiling. Her mind found patterns in the dimmed room's sound-dampening tiles. She knew that there was actually no pattern at all; her mind was inventing them. She was finding a pattern that did not exist. Ritsuko smiled at the paradox.

Next to her in the bed, Gendo Ikari shifted position. That too was a paradox, she mused. She hated Gendo, who made it easy with his personality, or lack thereof. Yet, here they were, naked together in bed, the room still heavy with the aftermath of sex. It had not been lovemaking and never was—she did not love Gendo any more than he loved her—and they were satisfying a basic human, biological urge, nothing more. At least that was what Ritsuko told herself. The fact that there were many men and a few women at NERV that would have been overjoyed to satisfy Ritsuko, biologically or otherwise, she preferred not to think about.

"Things went well with the Jet Alone project today," Gendo said into the silence.

Ritsuko half-turned to face him. "Must we talk about work, Gendo? You read my report." She watched him do so in his office, before they had retreated to one of the guest rooms NERV kept at the Geofront, where they usually conducted their liasions. It was secure, clean, more comfortable than Gendo's desk, and close to the operations room; neither wanted to be far away in case of emergency.

Gendo only stared at her, and Ritsuko sighed. She knew he liked to talk about things in bed. Ritsuko occasionally wondered how much of the Evangelion Project was thought up in Yui Ikari's bed. Or Ritsuko's mother Naoko's. That was another train of thought she preferred not to pursue. "I thought we perhaps shaved things a little too closely today," she finally said, giving into Gendo's stare. "Misato—Major Katsuragi might have been killed."

"You insured the engine would not explode."

"I did what I could. There was no guarantee that it would not explode, only a sixty percent certainty." Ritsuko returned her gaze to the all-too-familiar ceiling. "If I knew that Misato would try what she did, I would have made sure that certainty was much higher."

"It was a necessary risk. The Jet Alone project could not be allowed to succeed." Gendo chuckled. "Of course, how it would have done against the Angels is questionable to begin with, with no AT field. What possessed them to use a fission reactor instead of a fusion one? We mastered fusion power years ago."

"Cost. And time."

"True. I suppose we do take up a great deal of Japan's military budget through their contributions to the UN."

Ritsuko once more turned over to face him, lying on her side. "I read in the paper this morning that the Americans are seriously considering cutting our funding in the UN when the budget comes up next month."

"Steps have been taken to ensure that does not happen."

"Such as?"

"That brings me to the reason I wanted to speak with you today." Gendo half-smiled. "The _other_ reason, perhaps. There will be a new pilot trainee joining us this week."

Her dark eyebrows went up in surprise. "Oh? That does make sense—the new Evas constructed in America will be joining us soon. Which one are we calling up from the class? Suzuhara?"

"No, not yet. An outsider—an American."

Ritsuko's eyes widened. "What? Are you serious?"

"Quite. Her name is Riana Arashi—"

"You just through telling me that letting Misato—a valuable part of this organization, and my friend—go into a fission reactor that was in imminent danger of meltdown was an acceptable risk, and then lie there and tell me you're bringing in someone from the outside?" She sat up in bed. The sheets slipped away to expose her naked breasts, but Ritsuko did not care. "You're inviting the Americans to discover what Evangelion is really about!"

Gendo's smile widened, which infuriated her further. "Ritsuko-chan," he chided her gently, using the diminutive to goad her further. "Don't you think I haven't taken that into account?"

Ritsuko stared at him as if he was a computer that, if hit hard enough, would start to work correctly. "Explain."

"I was about to, when you interrupted me. Riana Arashikaze is her name, and she is…rather special."

"So is Asuka. So is Rei. So is _Shinji,"_ she snapped, to rub salt in an open emotional wound.

Gendo did not rise to the bait. "True," he conceded. "but Riana is different. I have reason to believe that she may have powers of her own. An unawakened mage, if you like."

Ritsuko laughed humorlessly. "Have you been drinking? I've heard these stories. Ever since Second Impact, people have talked about supernatural creatures woken up by the cataclysm. Superstitions and nonsense, brought on by hysteria. There is no such thing as magic. There is only science."

"Explain the Angels, then." Ritsuko turned red as she realized she had stepped squarely into Gendo's trap. "If the Angels can exist," he continued, "then magic certainly can. In fact, the latter may be the more believable of the two."

"All right," Ritsuko growled, "let's say for the sake of argument that magic _is_ real. Which I sincerely doubt. What is the point?"

Gendo's smile faded. "Ritsuko, I don't need to tell you that we are in a war for survival, on many fronts—and not just against the Angels. Each time we have fought the Angels, we have been triumphant…but only by a thin margin. That margin of error decreases with every battle. If the pilots fail, we lose, and we _cannot_ lose, as you know. Therefore, adding one more weapon to our arsenal is sensible, _neh?_ The Angels' firepower cannot be explained by science, so perhaps it is magic. Perhaps we do as well…yes, I know the AT Field can be explained by psychology and science, but I doubt that Freud or Reich ever thought it could be used as a weapon." He shrugged. "I don't care. Riana is a weapon, and I see no reason not to use one when it is offered of its own free will."

"She volunteered?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes. It seems the Arashikaze family has a history of service and duty. And a history of being killed in a heroic fashion. Riana's grandmother Rissa is very much alive, though from what I understand that is a miracle in and of itself. Her father Takashi was killed in Seattle after Second Impact, attempting to save others in the Space Needle. Her mother was injured in Seattle as well, and died in childbirth. Her aunt died at Yucca Flats, Nevada, nine years ago in one of the Americans' reunification battles. Riana, it seems, wants to carry on the family tradition. I don't know if she intends to be a martyr, but given her convent rearing, I would guess she has no problem with it."

Ritsuko groaned audibly. "And if I know you, she is well within the age parameters, physical condition, and mental fitness requirements." At Gendo's nod, she sighed again. "We still have to test her. It's unlikely she would even interface with an Eva, unless this so-called magic of hers allows it."

"I was rather thinking of giving her EVA-03A until the American Evas arrive."

Ritsuko looked confused. "The technology demonstrator? The one with the experimental cold fusion engine? It's not nearly as effective as the others."

"But it will do, for now," Gendo said.

Despite herself, Ritsuko was intrigued. EVA-03A was built as a proof-of-concept mecha. It was not quite as large as the prototype Evas, EVA-00 through 02. While the prototypes were alive—in more ways than few beyond Ritsuko and Gendo knew—EVA-03A was not. It was dead metal. The pilot could still interface with and control the Eva, but the controls in the cockpit were not merely foci for the pilot: they were actual control columns that used microprocessors in the musculature and servomotors, much how a modern aircraft would. The entry plug was identical and filled with LCL as normal, as that transmitted the pilot's sense of balance to the machine, as well as assisted the computer in visualizing the mecha's movement. It would never have the fluidity or grace of the prototype Evas, much less the production models, but it did have the advantage that the pilot's synchronization could never go haywire. EVA-03A had been kept around and redesignated as a training machine, but none of the current pilots had needed it—Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley-Soryu did not require training, and there was never any time for Shinji Ikari; Shinji no longer needed training either. If other pilots were "called up" from the reserve class, then 03A might have some use.

"You said she was an 'unawakened' mage," Ritsuko said into the silence. "I take it you mean she does not how to use her so-called powers."

"From what my research tells me," Gendo replied, "she is yet unaware that she has them, only that there is potential."

"So the possibility exists that she could never manifest them."

"Yes."

"So her status as a 'weapon' is provisional at best."

Gendo thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I should think that the rigors of training will create the possibility of manifestation. If not, then her first encounter with an Angel will."

"And if she doesn't, even then?"

Gendo suddenly was weary of the conversation. "Then I suppose I shall have to explain to her grandmother and the American government that their pilot tragically died in the line of duty."

"Ah." Ritsuko got out of bed and began putting on her clothes. "Now you're making sense, Gendo. She's not a weapon so much as she is a hostage. By having an American in the Evangelion Project, NERV will be more palatable to the more simpleminded and jingoistic members of the American government, thereby reducing the threat of them pulling our funding. It doesn't matter if Riana Arashikaze is any good or how long she lasts in combat, only that she exists for a short time. From what I have heard of Rissa Arashikaze, you face an uphill battle convincing her that her daughter is _not_ a hostage."

"On the contrary, Doctor. She convinced me."

Ritsuko stopped as she reached for her skirt. "Rissa Arashikaze convinced _you?"_

"I had already given the matter some thought before she came here. She, as the American Mafia would say, made me an offer I could not refuse."

"What did you give her in return?"

"Her granddaughter a chance at becoming an Evangelion pilot."

"Obviously," Ritsuko snapped, irritated. "But what did _she_ do?"

Gendo hesitated a moment, and wondered if Ritsuko should know that SEELE no longer existed, no longer was an obstacle. He decided against it: it might be useful if Ritsuko was kept in the dark for now. "Let's just say she did me quite the favor."

Ritsuko finished dressing. "Which you're not going to tell me about, as usual for your own reasons." She threw on her lab coat. "But I will tell you what I think, Gendo-chan." She saw his expression change to anger, and knew that barb had hit. Probably only Yui had ever called him that. "I think you're setting up this poor, stupid girl for a suicide mission. Because I believe in the end, I have to accept your means. I have enough skeletons in my closet." She stalked to the door. "But that does not mean I have lost so much of my humanity that I will lay in that bed, and callously discuss the use and abuse of an innocent girl. Good night, _Commander_." She spit his rank like a curse, and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Gendo leaned back on the pillow and said nothing for a long while. He wondered if Ritsuko really did believe in the end that he foresaw. He wondered if she even knew his endgame. Rissa Arashikaze's elimination of SEELE made that endgame much easier—but also more complicated. SEELE was the devil he knew. What devils lurked outside now?

"One enemy at a time," Gendo mused to himself. He looked at the closed door. "Fuyutsuki's right, Ritsuko. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But there's another old saying." He smiled. "There is nothing so fanatic as a convert."


	5. Bless the Child

_Convent of the Order of St. Joan of Arc_

 _Lolo, Montana, United States of North America_

 _15 October 2015_

Riana knelt before the altar of the convent chapel and crossed herself. She was already dressed in her travel clothes, the best she now owned, bought for her by her grandmother the day before. After a short prayer, she took five steps to the devotional candles and knelt again. This time, she lit three candles.

As she contemplated the candles, there was a rustling of fabric next to her. It was the Mother Superior, who also knelt and bowed her head in prayer, her face unseen in her habit's hood. Riana closed her eyes and returned to her prayers, and after awhile, she leaned back on her calves, and opened her eyes. "What are you praying for, Reverend Mother?" she asked politely.

"You," the Mother Superior replied. She rose; Riana quickly followed. The nun faced her squarely. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

Riana nodded, although she felt her knees shake. "I'm sure, ma'am."

"You may be like Daniel in the lions' den."

"Then I will try to rely on God to keep me safe, like Daniel did."

The Mother Superior smiled. "Good answer. I'll pray every day that He does so." They left the chapel. It was not snowing today; the sky was a painfully bright cerulean blue, the air crisp with a slight breeze. The mountains in the distance were white with snow, and magnificent.

"I'm glad you and your grandmother were able to reconcile," the Mother Superior said into the silence.

"Yeah, me too. Mostly we did, anyway." Riana remembered that, after Rissa had dried her eyes, they went back to Riana's small room, which was not much more than an oversized closet. It was cozy and warm, though, and smelled of old wood. They talked for a long time about Riana's parents, and then, as if Riana was half her age, Rissa tucked in her granddaughter and held her until Riana fell asleep. As expected, Rissa was gone when Riana woke up; her grandmother hated saying goodbye, as she had said far too many of them. She had left a note:

 _Remember that you are the best that has ever been. You have the best of all worlds in you. There is nothing you are not capable of if you try. If you ever feel that you are in danger, I will be there, and there is no force in this world or any other that will keep me from your side. Good luck. I will love you past the end of all that is._

"Have you ever beaten your grandmother in sparring?" the Mother Superior asked, breaking Riana's reverie.

"Nope!" Riana laughed.

"Well, don't feel bad. Neither have I, and I have a lot more experience. I wasn't always a nun." She winked at Riana, who wondered what the Mother Superior had done before she took on the habit. They walked to the exercise field, which was swept clean of snow as an ersatz landing pad. "Speaking of fighting…"

Riana's luggage was stacked behind a low wall to keep it out of the wind. The Mother Superior bent over and picked up what Riana had thought was a stick. It was, in a way: a staff, finished and polished. "We here at the convent thought you might appreciate a gift."

Riana took it and inspected the staff. She had always wanted to use a sword, but was all thumbs with the practice swords when she started training. The Mother Superior suggested the staff as a better weapon for a beginner, and Riana grew to like it. Bladed staves—naginatas—were traditionally women's weapons in Japan, and the Order of St. Joan trained extensively with them. Riana did not know how good she really was with the staff, but she could beat the other nuns in sparring matches. "Thank you," she whispered, almost overcome with emotion. "I'm honored."

"I hope you won't have to use it." The Mother Superior's face was placid as most times. Inside, she was in turmoil. Riana was painfully honest and naïve. She was too wild-spirited to become a nun, and too much her parents not to become a warrior of some kind. Now Riana was putting herself in harm's way, against an enemy no one knew anything about, for an organization no one trusted, commanded by a madman. _Behold,_ the Mother Superior thought, remembering the Gospel passage, _I am sending you like sheep into the midst of wolves._

They heard the distant whine of jet engines, and the Mother Superior spotted a speck approaching from the west. _And here comes the first of the pack._

Ryoji Kaji looked down at the mountains as they slid past the NERV VTOL. For almost half an hour, mountains was the only thing he had seen. They had a harsh beauty to them, but it was a forbidding one. Unlike Mount Fuji's grand conical sweep, these mountains were jagged, steep, and stabbed into the sky, as if to dare someone to try and conquer them, and promised death to those who tried.

"Pretty, aren't they?"

Kaji turned to Timothy Murphy, NERV's Pacific Northwest liasion. Murphy was officially assigned to Yucca Flats, NERV's North American headquarters, but as part of the US' contribution to Project E was at the Hanford Site in Washington, Murphy had met Kaji in Seattle and arranged transport. "Pretty scary, if you ask me."

Murphy laughed. "There's a river not too far south of here called the Salmon. The native tribes called it the River of No Return."

"Cheerful thought." Kaji suddenly yawned; changing time zones and days in less than 24 hours threw off his internal clock. Murphy took that as boredom, and opened a folder on his lap. "We'll be there soon. I suppose I'd better brief you."

"Yeah, show me what you've got on our newbie." Kaji smiled to show he meant no offense. His English was excellent, with a definite American accent, the product of college studies in Japan—not all of which were in the classroom.

Murphy cleared his throat. "Riana Lucia Arashikaze. Born in Issaquah, Washington, United States of America—we hadn't annexed Canada yet—on 14 February 2001. Her mother Clarice died in childbirth. Her father Takashi was killed in the collapse of the Space Needle during Second Impact. She was raised for awhile by her maternal aunt, Allegra Arashikaze, until the latter died at Yucca Flats, Nevada on 26 March 2006."

"Yucca Flats? Where NERV USA is headquartered?"

"Yeah, same one. It was one of the last big post-Second Impact battles, between separatists and the US government. The Feds won, but the whole area had to be sealed off—one of the separatists, or terrorists or whatever, set off a dirty nuke. Just a small one, but it saturated the whole place with cesium-90. Allegra Arashikaze died of radiation poisoning; they couldn't even retrieve her body. We built NERV HQ well away from the area, and upwind."

Kaji smiled. So that was where the joke about Americans in NERV came from, that they glowed in the dark. "Go on."

"Well, from then on, she was raised by her maternal grandmother, Rissa Arashikaze. Rissa's some high functionary in the US military, so Riana's been at the Convent of the Order of St. Joan of Arc since she was five."

"What do we know about Rissa?"

"Almost nothing. She sort of came out of nowhere. We know she was in the Central Intelligence Agency before Second Impact, but there's nothing on what she did. She was married, but her husband died quite awhile ago. Since Second Impact, though, Rissa's run black ops stuff for the US. From what we could figure out, Rissa's who the American government calls when someone needs to die. She also does a lot of teaching—we know she's trained the UN's Special Forces. Riana's her only living relative, by the way."

"Okay, so don't piss off Grandma. What about Riana?" Kaji took a cigarette from a pack in his coat pocket. He could not smoke aboard the VTOL—the pilot had already warned him—but he could at least chew on it.

"I made some calls, to her doctor and the Mother Superior at the convent. By all accounts, Riana is friendly and polite. She calls people 'sir' and 'ma'am'. She's not the silent type, but she doesn't run her mouth all the time either."

"What's her physical condition?" Kaji asked. "What's her stats?"

"Riana's five-six, weighs 120 pounds—" Murphy began.

"She's five-six at fourteen years old?"

"Yeah. Early bloomer, in more ways than one, according to the doctor."

Kaji raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Well, the doc may be a pervert, but…" Murphy made a gesture that indicated Riana Arashikaze was not lacking in the chest. Kaji chuckled, and Murphy continued. "Physically, she's in great shape. I guess the nuns keep her running up and down these mountains. Also, the Order of St. Joan is a rather militaristic bunch. They train with weapons daily. The Mother Superior doesn't want her nuns to be helpless when they leave the convent, and I guess there were some bandit attacks early on. Riana's been on the same regimen, probably." He paused. "There is one exception."

"Such as?"

"Riana's eyesight might be going a little. She wears reading glasses, and the doctor thinks they might become permanent by the time she's eighteen. Her mother was nearsighted, so it's genetic." Murphy laughed. "And according to the doc, she's got that teenage awkwardness. Riana trips over her feet a lot. She's not really used to her height yet, and she's getting taller. She'll probably top out at six feet or so."

"Hm. Big girl. Any mental issues?" _Because if she has them,_ Kaji thought ruefully, _she'll fit right in._

"Not really. According to the Mother Superior, she's stubborn…and she has a bad temper. Apparently one reason why she's fit is that she keeps having to work off demerits for breaking things and cursing. She's broken, at last count, fifteen SDAT players, four game consoles, and one computer monitor. She hurled a mouse through it."

"Not another one," Kaji said softly.

"Sir?"

"Nothing. Anything else?"

"She speaks some languages. Enough Japanese to get around, a little German, some Latin."

"I guess Latin makes sense, in a convent."

Murphy nodded. "And she fits some of those stereotypes too. She's rather modest. When she saw the doctor, she was wearing a floor-length dress and a button-up-to-the-throat blouse on a warm day. She also wanted to know how many Catholic churches there are in Tokyo-3. There aren't, by the way—she was reportedly pretty disappointed."

"Seems like a pretty decent girl, all things considered."

"Yes, sir," Murphy agreed. "The Marduk Institute did a good job in finding her."

Kaji did not reply to that—he had his own questions about the Marduk Institute—but they were interrupted by an announcement from the VTOL's pilot. "Five minutes to landing. We've got the convent in sight, sir. You want to come up and see?"

"Nah, I trust you," Kaji replied. "I'll get belowdecks so we can take on our passenger." He unstrapped and clambered down the ladder to the VTOL's lower deck. The aircraft jostled a little in the turbulent mountain air, then settled on its landing gear. The pilot throttled the engines back, but kept them running. They would not be here long. Kaji glanced out of the thick plastic window set into the door, then opened it as the screech of the turbofans quieted. It occurred to him as he stepped out that he had forgotten to ask Murphy what Riana looked like, but it was easy enough—of the two women at the edge of the landing field, Riana was the one without a habit.

Riana Arashikaze was indeed tall for her age, almost as tall as Kaji himself. Her face was attractive, though not beautiful, and framed by reddish-brown hair; the cut reminded Kaji of Asuka Langley-Soryu, though Asuka's hair was much lighter. She was dressed in dark slacks, boots, and a turtleneck sweater, with a coat over her shoulders but not zipped shut. Involuntarily, Kaji noticed that the sweater heroically but unsuccessfully tried to disguise a sizeable bust. He grinned at himself around the cigarette. _Oh, she's going to be popular in school._

He walked forward, and was surprised when Riana bowed deeply to him, and held it in a gesture of respect. Kaji felt foolish: he was dressed casually, with his tie unknotted and his coat also open to the weather, and he hadn't shaved in over a day. Bowing was second nature in Japan, but this was the first time he had encountered it in the United States. Feeling like a hypocrite, he returned the bow, but not as deep. The Mother Superior also bowed, but as a superior to an inferior.

" _Ohayo,_ " Riana greeted him. "Are you Kaji Ryoji-sama?" Her Japanese was unmistakably schoolbook-learned, with a thick accent.

"Call me Kaji," he replied in English, put out a hand, and grinned wider. Kaji was aware of his effect on women, and it worked on Riana, who blushed, hesitated, then shook his hand firmly. "Hope you don't mind if we speak English; I think mine's better than yours."

"Thank you, sir…er, Kaji," she corrected herself.

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you," Kaji said. "I've heard a lot about you. All of it good," he reassured her. He put out his hand to the Mother Superior. The nun was Riana's height and looked up at Kaji, and her handshake was cold. Her eyes searched his, and he forced himself to meet them. She turned aside to Riana, but Kaji had the distinct feeling that the Mother Superior saw something in him that she did not like.

After some polite conversation about the weather, Kaji gratefully focused his attention on Riana. He noted in passing that she had dark, blue eyes. "Well," he said, "I hate to rush things, but we really do need to be going. The engines are running, and we need to make our flight back to Japan. Are you ready, Riana?"

" _Hai,_ Kaji-san." He noticed she had dropped the – _sama_ , which he liked; Riana was feeling more comfortable with him.

"Okay. Where's your luggage?"

She pointed to the single suitcase, and the staff. "This is it."

"A girl who can pack light. Good for you." He turned back to the Mother Superior. "Ma'am, if you don't mind, we'll be off." He made it sound like they were just going down the street, rather than halfway across the world.

Riana nodded, picked up the suitcanse, then dropped it and hugged the Mother Superior, holding the older woman to her desperately. "Thank you for everything!" The nun returned the hug and whispered something Kaji could not hear. Riana wiped away her tears, let go of the Mother Superior, picked up her suitcase and staff, and headed for the VTOL. Kaji nodded to the nun and turned to follow, but a hand grabbed his arm in an iron vise, enough to make him wince.

She turned him around. "Ryoji Kaji, if that girl comes to harm, or if she's sullied—if you destroy that gentle soul—I will hold you and your master Gendo Ikari personally responsible." The Mother Superior spoke in flawless, accentless Japanese.

"I can't guarantee she won't come to harm," Kaji replied evenly, "but it won't be from me. And Commander Ikari is not my master, but I'll pass it on."

"Very well; I apologize for my words. But I will say this: Riana is not like your other…children, for a lack of a better word. She has plenty of friends who will take it very badly if she's misused." The hand pulled away from his arm, and Kaji resisted rubbing where it had been. Then, inexplicably, the nun smiled and bowed. "Go with God, Ryoji Kaji."

"Thanks. You too." Kaji turned and walked briskly to the VTOL. He climbed in and found Riana securing her luggage. "Riana," he said as quietly as he could over the noise of the VTOL, "this is your last chance to jump out that door." He pointed to the open hatch. "No one would say anything. Being an Eva pilot isn't something I'd wish on anyone."

Riana hesitated. She looked at the hatch, then back to Kaji. "No, sir. I'll stay. I want to try."

He slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "All right then." He closed and dogged the hatch, then climbed up the ladder to tell the pilot to raise ship.

Riana stared out the window. As the VTOL began to rise, she saw the Mother Superior make the Sign of the Cross. She crossed herself, and kept staring out the window long after the convent had disappeared behind them, tears streaming down her face.


	6. Destination Unknown

_Over Kanto Prefecture, Japan_

 _16 October 2015_

"Riana? Riana, wake up."

Riana Arashikaze climbed out of a deep sleep. "Uh? Are we there yet?"

"Just about." Ryoji Kaji grinned down at her. "You've been out for the past three hours."

"Yeah, sorry." Riana uncurled from the position she had been in since the hypersonic transport had left Spokane. She stretched and winced as a few joints popped. "Gramma said if there was ever a Third Impact, I'd sleep through it."

"Well, belt in. We're on approach." Kaji left to take his own seat, just behind her. There were only ten people on an aircraft built for almost two hundred. The others were ahead of them, behind a partition; Kaji and Riana might as well have been alone.

She looked out the window. They were at about five thousand feet, coming in over a rocky peninsula barren of trees. The peninsula disappeared under the airliner's immense delta wing, and gave way to a bay filled with giant boulders. As the aircraft continued to descend, Riana realized with a shock that the boulders were actually buildings—or, more accurately, the ruins of buildings.

"That's what is left of old Tokyo," Kaji said from behind her. "It got hit by a nuclear weapon back in 2000—not that there was much left of Tokyo after the Second Impact tsunami hit, anyway. People think North Korea launched it. Anyhow, the Japanese government moved inland and set up the new capital, Tokyo-2, over in Nagano Prefecture."

"Tokyo-3's not the capital?" Riana asked.

"Nope. It's just world headquarters for NERV. Pretty much a company town. Everybody that lives there works for us."

Riana smiled over her shoulder at him. "Your English is really good."

"Thanks," Kaji replied. "I roomed with an American guy in college. I lived for a few months in the US after graduating, too. Most people at NERV do speak English, but Japanese is the main language." He waggled a finger playfully at her. "So don't slack off. You're going to have to work on your Japanese."

" _Hai,"_ Riana answered, which got a chuckle out of Kaji, and returned to the window. The ruins had disappeared, and given way to densely forested hills. In the distance, shrouded in clouds, was Mount Fuji. She noticed in spots the forest was blackened, and at least in two places she could see were obvious impact craters, leaving blown down trees and upturned earth. She supposed those were battlefields, where the Angels had been stopped. Her ears popped as she heard the airliner's mammoth landing gears lower and lock into place. From the angle of the aircraft, she did not get a good look at Tokyo-3 itself. A few moments later, the airliner settled to the runway, and the deceleration pressed Riana back into her seat. It faded, and the aircraft taxied to the main terminal. Kaji unbelted, but signaled to Riana to stay in her seat. After the other passengers deplaned, the two of them left through a different exit into the terminal. There was no welcoming committee or customs check, just the collection of her bag. "That's it?" Riana asked Kaji as they walked towards a side door of the terminal.

"That's it," Kaji replied. "Don't have to bother with customs and all that when you're working for the Man." He opened the door, and the heat and humidity hit Riana like a wave. The air itself felt like it weighed a ton. She stumbled and gasped. Kaji turned to her in alarm. "Oh yeah, that's right. You're not used to this. We're about seven thousand feet lower here than back at the convent. You'll get used to it."

Riana felt the sweat explode from her pores. She had never experienced humidity like this; the mountains were dry and cool. She could hear the buzzing of insects. "What's that noise?" She felt like she was drinking the air.

"Cicadas. Used to be around only during the summer, but now…well, we don't have seasons much anymore around here." They walked to a tiny sportscar, a Lotus Elan that had seen better days. He reached out for her suitcase. "I'll toss it in the trunk. Hop into my magnificent conveyance."

Riana would have rather not. The bucket seats were so low that it felt like her rear would be scraping on the pavement; if Kaji rolled the car, they would probably both be decapitated. Nonetheless, when he started it, it ran with a soft purr of the engine, and it smoothly took the curves and bumps in the road.

"Are we going to NERV first, or is there somewhere I can change?" Her clothes felt sticky with sweat already.

"NERV. We need to get all your paperwork done, and I'm sure they'll want to show you around some. Besides, I don't know where we're putting you yet. They stuck Asuka in a hotel for her first day, but I guess she's moved in with Misato by now."

"Who with who?" Riana asked.

Kaji glanced at her out of the corner of one eye. "That's right—you don't know anything about NERV." He lit a cigarette, and ignored Riana, who wrinkled her nose at the nicotine. "Your grandma is military, right? And I'm sure they had a hierarchy at the convent. That's the most militant group of nuns I've ever heard of."

"It was a pretty dangerous world after Second Impact."

"Don't I know it," Kaji said quietly, and she noticed something cross his face, something none too pleasant. It was gone in an instant, and his affable demeanor returned. "Anyway, the chain of command at NERV—for you, that is—is pretty simple.

"At the top is Gendo Ikari. He's the commander, and the boss." Kaji paused for a moment. "He's a tough man, Riana. He does what he has to. Do what he tells you, and you'll get along fine." Riana kept her face neutral, but she was not too young or naïve to notice that there was something Kaji did not want to tell her.

"His second in command is Kozo Fuyutsuki. We call him the Professor. He's a good man, Riana, but he's no softie—he can be every bit as tough as the Commander if he has to be.

"Now the head of Project Evangelion is Ritsuko Akagi. She and I have known each other for a long time—she's our resident mad scientist." Kaji grinned. "That's unfair, actually. She's not crazy. She's dedicated a hundred percent to her work, and no one knows more about the Evas than her. She's also the physician for the pilots, so she's going to know you inside and out too—literally."

"Oh, no," Riana groused. "More physicals?"

"Yep."

"I suppose it's too late to put me back on the plane."

"Sorry," Kaji laughed. "One of the drawbacks to piloting a big robot." He put both hands on the wheel as he negotiated a turn at a little higher than the listed top speed. Riana's fingers dug into the leather seat, but the car stayed on all four wheels. "Next is your direct boss—Major Misato Katsuragi. Misato's…" Kaji paused, and Riana noticed that his expression changed—but only for a moment. "Misato's as good as they come. You can't ask for a better commander. She acts like she's half-crazy, but she's gold in the clutch. The weight of the world is on her shoulders…but she's got the shoulders to handle it."

Riana hid her smile behind a hand. It was obvious that Kaji liked Major Katsuragi, a great deal. "How about the other pilots?"

"Ah, yes. The Children." He glanced at her as they left the city and went through a tunnel. "It's not an insult. It's what we call you guys—like a codename.

"Right now there's three pilots, besides yourself. The First Child is Rei Ayanami. Rei's been there since the project started. She's the most experienced. Rei is a bit hard to get to know; she keeps to herself. Quiet. But she's a damn tiger in the cockpit."

His grin widened. "Now quiet is _not_ a word I'd use for the Second Child, Asuka Langley-Soryu. She's like a wound spring, always raring to go. Good kid, though, probably the best pure pilot we have.

"The Third Child is Shinji Ikari—"

"The Commander's son?" Riana asked, then instantly regretted doing so. She probably was not supposed to know about that.

"You catch on quick," Kaji said, with a question in his voice.

"Um…my grandmother mentioned it in passing."

Kaji shrugged. "I guess it's no big secret. Shinji is Commander Ikari's son, but he's nothing like his dad. Kinda shy; not really eaten up with all this Eva stuff like Asuka. But he's a good kid too. He's fought the Angels longer than anyone else. We literally owe our lives—you, me, everyone—to the guy." He paused. "If you make the cut, you'd be the Fourth Child, I guess."

"So we're it, then," Riana said quietly. She looked at the hills around them, and for the first time, felt the weight of responsibility she had potentially placed on herself.

"You're it." Kaji winked at her, noticing that she had gone somber. "Hey—the Marduk Institute wouldn't have chosen you if they didn't think you could make it, Riana. You know the Bible. Remember the saying 'Many are called, few are chosen'? That's you. You're gonna do great. Matter of fact, I expect to hear the other pilots gripe how this uppity American is blowing them all away."

Riana faced Kaji squarely, a small smile on her lips. "As my grandma would say, Kaji-san, quit blowing sunshine up my ass." He got a good laugh out of that.

They drove toward a low, bunker-like parking garage. Kaji came to a stop, pulled a red card out of his shirt pocket, and swiped it through a reader set outside the garage door. It beeped and the door slowly opened. Inside, the temperature dropped a few degrees, and Riana sighed, glad to be out of the humidity. Instead of parking with a few other cars, to her surprise, Kaji drove towards another set of doors, repeated the process with the card, and drove through an open doorway onto a metal platform. There was the rumble of hydraulics, and the platform began to descend diagionally. Kaji drummed his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently, while Riana held hers in her lap. Her left hand began to tremble. Neither action hastened the movement of the elevator, which took a good ten minutes to descend to… _wherever we're going,_ Riana thought. Neither of them spoke.

Finally, the platform grumbled to a stop. The cage around the platform retracted, and Kaji drove down another ramp, turned into a tubelike chamber, and stopped again. Metal walls closed in around them, and Kaji switched off the engine. He got out of the Lotus as the tube started moving. "C'mon, Riana," he winked. "Time to see what's down the rabbit hole."


	7. Mysterious Ways

Riana and Kaji rode the train, which seemed to take a winding path even further down. They emerged from a tunnel and he motioned out the window. "The Geofront," Kaji announced.  
Riana's mouth fell open. It was huge, easily the largest underground chamber in the world. She could not see the ends of it. It was rather beautiful, with a series of terraced hills covered in forest that ramped upwards, out of sight. She could barely see the top, what looked to be a concrete dome. "Just how big… _is_ this place?" she asked.

"Oh, I'd say about six kilometers across and two high," Kaji answered. "There's about another half-kilometer of concrete and steel foundation plates above the dome, and some sub-basements below us." He pointed ahead of them as the train curved over the lake. "That's where we're going—the pyramid. NERV Headquarters. It's like an iceberg. You only see the tip of it."

"How do you light this place up? It's not that dark down here."

"Mirrrors. Just like the Egyptians did it."

"Wow." Riana knew she was supposed to be impressed, but she did not have to act; it was the most spectacular thing she had ever seen. "How did they dig this out?"

Kaji shrugged. "So far as I know, it's natural. When they broke ground for Tokyo-3, they found it. No one had done any major development of the Izu Peninsula—that's where we are, by the way—and everyone was pretty shocked."

Riana nodded, but as she continued to look out the window, something did not feel right. She could not put her finger on it; it was just a feeling. It was not even a bad feeling…but it was something very strange.

 _I don't belong here._ The thought came to her unbidden, but it stayed there for quite awhile. She put it down to the feeling of the vast ceiling and all those millions of tons of rock, steel and concrete pressing down. In her heart, however, Riana knew that was not the reason.

After a ride down the longest escalator she had ever been on, Riana and Kaji walked down a hexagonal corridor. Waiting at the end was a woman dressed in a lab coat, thrown over a black blouse zipped to the throat and a skirt that was entirely too short for Riana's tastes. She was attractive, her blonde hair cut short, with skin paler than Riana's; it was evident that this woman did not get much sunshine.

"Riana Arashikaze?" she said pleasantly, with a small bow. "My name is Ritsuko Akagi." Her English was flawless.

Riana returned the bow, and remembered her etiquette: she bowed deeper and held the bow a second longer, acknowledging the woman as a superior. "Good afternoon, Doctor. It is a pleasure to meet you. Kaji-san told me a little about you."

"I'm sure he was flattering." Ritsuko glanced at Kaji with an amused smile, as if she knew Kaji had probably lied but that she did not mind that he had.

"He did mention something about a physical," Riana said, with dread in her voice.

"Not at the moment." Ritsuko turned her attention to Kaji. "The Commander wants to see her first. After that, we should probably introduce her to the pilots. The Second Child just got down here herself, so there's more than one new face. I'll take Riana to the Commander's office."

"All right." He patted Riana's shoulders. "Don't let Rits-chan lead you astray. See you later, Riana."

"I hope so, Kaji-san. Thank you for everything." With a wink and a wave, he disappeared down another corridor.

Riana followed Ritsuko down more corridors, and Riana was lost after the first two corners. "This place is a maze!" she exclaimed.

"You get used to it," Ritsuko replied. She said nothing more as they walked. Riana gathered that Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was not much for small talk; she also had no doubts that the doctor was watching her, gauging her, and cataloguing her, in the same way one might treat a lab rat.

Finally, they reached a door marked in English and in kanji NERV COMMANDER. Ritsuko pressed a button. "Commander Ikari, Dr. Akagi. Riana Arashikaze is with me."

"Enter," was the simple command. The door slid open.

Ritsuko walked in, but Riana hesitated. The door seemed to be a gate of passage, as if she took another step, it would mean stepping into the unknown darkness. She wanted to run, run out of the Geofront and back home. Instead, she swallowed audibly, and took a step forward into the room. _"Sumnes omnes in manu Dei,"_ she whispered. We are all in the hands of God.

"If you still believe in that sort of thing," Ritsuko remarked quietly.

The office was very dark, lit softly, malevolently with reddish light. Riana noticed that the red light came from tracings etched into the floor and ceiling, with words—some were in Latin, which she could somewhat read, and others in Hebrew, which was far beyond her. Her unsettled feeling had never gone away, and now it intensified, along with something else she could not identify. Much like the Geofront, it felt both terribly wrong and wonderfully right.

The room's sole piece of furniture was at the other end of the room, a desk backed by huge picture windows that were blocked at the moment with louvres. The room's sole occupant sat behind the desk, which was empty except for a computer.

This could only be Commander Gendo Ikari. He stared at her over clasped hands, strangely covered in white gloves. He wore a black jacket with yellow piping, and a red pullover, and glasses that looked like her reading glasses. Facially, he resembled a Japanese version of Abraham Lincoln, with the same beard and sallow, sunken features, black hair brushed haphazardly to one side. Riana had formed a picture in her mind of some kind of squat ogre, but he was not an unattractive man. Nonetheless, this was a man who did not care to be loved, but did not mind to be feared, a man who knew power and how to use it.

Riana drew herself to attention, as she would have in front of the Mother Superior, and bowed, very low. Not trusting her Japanese, she continued to speak in English. "Good afternoon, sir. My name is Riana Arashikaze."

Gendo inclined his head to acknowledge her bow. "Good afternoon, Miss Arashikaze." He also spoke in English, more heavily accented than Ritsuko's or Kaji's. His eyes never wavered from her face as she straightened. "Do you know why you were _tentatively_ accepted into Evangelion?"

Riana was surprised. She knew enough about Japanese etiquette that it was considered polite to talk around a subject before coming to it, which allowed both parties a chance to understand each other before proceeding. Gendo was getting right to the point, and she doubted it was because she was American. "To become an Evangelion pilot," she answered slowly.

"No," Gendo replied. "It is to fight and defeat the Angels. Piloting Eva is only one part of that. We do not know if you can pilot Eva, and that is why you are here—to find out. If you pass the tests, and if Dr. Akagi and myself approve, then you _may_ be allowed to become a pilot."

"Sir!" Riana barked the word, and kept her posture ramrod straight, as if in front of the Mother Superior.

She thought she detected a slight smile on Gendo's lips. "I see you understand. Let that be your first lesson." He paused for a moment. "I hope you are aware of the odds we face here, Miss Arashikaze. This is not for fun, nor is it a school, nor is it an exchange program for you to experience our wonderful country and people. It is a war, and we are soldiers.

"I am the Commander of NERV, and if I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed promptly and to the best of your ability. If you fail me, you will be discarded. If you fail in battle, you will die—and possibly, so will the other pilots and the entire world. Choosing you was not made easily or cavalierly—or completely for political reasons, or because of your grandmother." This time she was sure he was smiling. "You are not so naïve to think you were selected entirely for your test scores and potential."

Riana seethed. She was also not so naïve to not know when she was being baited. "I would like to think I was."

"You were not," Gendo answered with finality. "While you are here, you will be trusted with very sensitive information. What you see here, what you do here, and what you hear here— _stays here._ Do I make myself clear?"

"I am not a spy…sir," Riana said, adding the sir at the last moment.

"I am glad to hear it." He leaned back in his chair, resting his gloved hands on the desk. "Your scores _were_ high—I will grant you that. You are not here to placate the wishes of your country; you are here to defend the planet. It seems your family has a bit of history in that regard. But I wish you to understand that, if this is a game, it is one where the losers die and the winners only get a chance to play again. Can you accept that?"

Riana forced herself to meet his eyes. She held his gaze. "Sir. I accept that completely. I am here to fight. I am _not_ here to die…sir."

Gendo nodded slowly. "Very well. You will be placed in school with the other pilots. You are not to discuss NERV business there. I expect you to improve your Japanese very quickly. Your training here begins after school tomorrow. _Wakarimasu ka?"_ The last was snapped out

" _Hai."_

Ritsuko had been silent throughout the meeting, but she spoke now. "We'll begin her orientation immediately."

"Good. Have Kaji introduce her to the other pilots."

"Yes, Commander. Where will she be staying?"

"She can stay with Major Katsuragi for now." Gendo held up a hand to forestall Ritsuko's question. "I know it is getting rather crowded in that apartment, but it will do until we can move Miss Arashikaze into a permanent home." He looked back at Riana. "Given that you were raised in a convent, I assume you have no trouble taking care of yourself."

"No, sir. I don't need much room."

"Good," he repeated. "Dismissed. We will speak again soon."

Riana executed a deep bow, spun on one heel, and walked out. Ritsuko, with a sidelong glance at Gendo, followed and closed the door behind them. In the silent chamber, Gendo stared after them for a long time.


	8. Good Times With Bad Boys

Riana knew Kaji was in the corridor from the acrid scent of cigarette smoke. Ritsuko wrinkled her nose at the smell. When they found him, she pointed to the prominent NO SMOKING signs plastered on the walls. Kaji just smiled at her. Ritsuko sighed. "This goes against my better judgement as a scientist and a person, but I'm leaving Riana with you again, Kaji."

"No problem," Kaji said. "Where are we stashing her?"

"With Misato. Commander's orders."

"Does Misato know?"

"Not yet."

A devilish light appeared in Kaji's eyes. "Ah, _so desu._ I get to break the news." He turned to Riana, who was not lost on the fact that the conversation had been in English for her benefit. "You hungry?"

"Starving," she replied.

"Let's grab some late lunch."

Riana turned and bowed to Ritsuko. "Thank you for your help, Doctor."

"My pleasure, Riana-san. See you tomorrow. Kaji, she'll need an ID card and a locker before you leave."

"You got it." Kaji made shooing motions towards Ritsuko, who obediently turned and walked away. "Smart woman, in so many ways," he said. He inclined his head roughly northward, and Riana followed. She was quickly lost, and was quite sure she would never understand the layout of the place.

Finally, the smell of food beckoned them, and they reached a small cafeteria. It was deserted, though Riana heard Japanese-speaking voices behind a divider. Kaji got a place of rice with chili, while Riana, deciding that when in Rome, chose what looked to be pizza of some kind; she guessed it was some kind of okonomyaki. They walked towards the divider, and Kaji suddenly handed his tray to Riana. "Hey, hold my tray and watch this." His face lit up with unholy joy.

Riana more than hesitantly peered around the corner as Kaji crept around it. He stealthily crept up behind a woman sitting at the sole occupied table, reached around, and put her in a headlock. "From out of nowhere!" he shouted in English. The woman screamed " _Nani?!"_ and then a torrent of Japanese that Riana could not quite make out, but figured meant that something was very wrong.

"Kaji!" squealed a girl's voice, but Riana could not see who it was.

"NANI?" the woman shouted.

Kaji's back was to Riana, and all she could see of the woman he grabbed was flailing arms. He said something in Japanese, but the only words Riana could understand were "drinking," "beer," and "gut." Whatever he had said, it was enough for the woman to launch herself away from Kaji, and get halfway onto the table as if he were a rat scurrying across the floor.

 _"Ugoku na!"_ Stay back! the woman railed, pointing at Kaji, then a shade more calmly, asked what the hell he was doing at NERV.

"That's a fine way to say hello," Kaji said in English, "when we haven't seen each other in awhile." He thumbed back at Riana. "I had to turn around and pick up the Fourth Child from the United States."

All Riana saw was a flash of yellow sundress and reddish-brown hair as a teenaged girl her own age glomped Kaji. She held on as if she feared Kaji would float away, and said something in Japanese, but with a distinctly German accent.

"Don't be shy, Riana," Kaji said over his shoulder. "Come over here and meet the other pilots."

Riana managed to keep the trays balanced as she came forward; this was not what she had in mind when she had to be introduced. She could not decide whether to set the trays down and bow, or to chance bowing with the trays in her hands. So she compromised, and gave a dip of the head with a sort of curtsey.

Kaji partially solved Riana's problem by taking his tray from her. "Riana Arashikaze, may I introduce Major Misato Katsuragi, head of NERV Operations. The girl welded to my right arm is the Second Child, Pilot Asuka Langley-Soryu."

As Riana set her tray on the table, she was struck by how beautiful Misato Katsuragi was, with straight black hair, skin fairer than most Japanese, and a figure that made Riana feel even more awkward and dumpy than usual. She noticed the silver cross that dangled between Misato's rather impressive bust, and wondered if Misato was Christian; very few Japanese were. Her expression was torn between a smile for Riana and a homicidal scowl for Kaji. _If I didn't already supect there was something between these two,_ she thought, _I know now._ " _Konnichi wa, Katsuragi Misato-sama,"_ Riana said formally. " _Ikaga desu ka?_ _Watashi no mazushi nihonjin o yurushi nasai."_ How are you? Please forgive my poor Japanese. It was one of her memorized stock phrases, and one she knew she would be using quite a bit.

"Oh. Er…your Japanese is all right, Arashikaze-san." Misato's English had the same American inflection that Kaji's had. "I…I wasn't aware that you were coming today, please excuse me."

Riana turned to Asuka to say the same stock phrase, but Asuka had already let go of Kaji and with a beatific smile, grabbed both of Riana's hands. "Hello!" she said brightly, in English. "I'm Asuka. Pleased to meet you, Riana." Riana smiled back shyly. Asuka was about two inches shorter than Riana, with the body of an athlete and a quite attractive face; Riana noted that Asuka's eyes were an icy blue, and her hair was caught up in two ponytails held up by plastic barrettes that looked like red horns. She also noticed that Asuka's grip was strong and getting stronger. Riana recognized the test and returned it as best she could. The other girl let go; Asuka did not seem to be offended.

"Pleased to meet you, Soryu-san," Riana said evenly.

"And this is the First Child, Rei Ayanami," Kaji said by way of introduction.

Rei stood and bowed to Riana with exactly the right depth and length of politeness. Unlike Asuka's sundress—which Riana found far too revealing—Rei was dressed in a more conservative school uniform. What struck Riana about Rei was her appearance: she had blue hair and two large, striking red eyes. _Is she an albino?_ Riana wondered, but did not dare ask. Rei's demeanor seemed unfriendly. _Easy, Riana,_ she cautioned herself as Rei resumed her seat, _you don't know anything about these people._

"And last, but certainly not least, is the Third Child. That's you, Shinji Ikari."

Riana realized that she had not even noticed Shinji—he had been so quiet and unobtrusive, he almost blended into the room. He was pleasant looking enough, and Riana instantly saw the familial resemblance between son and father. The similarities were only skin-deep: Shinji projected none of the power and menace Commander Ikari did. In fact, he looked bewildered, and could not meet Riana's eyes. His gaze flicked downwards, obviously realized he was staring directly at her breasts, then returned back to her face, then frantically seemed to find something intensely interesting in his tea. " _Konnichi wa, Ikari Shinji-san,"_ Riana said.

"Er... _konnichi wa, Arashikaze Riana-san._ Ah, hello," he added in English. He stood, gave a quick bow, and sat down again.

"No reason to be so formal, guys," Kaji grinned. "We're friends here."

Misato said something with poisonous sarcasm in Japanese, though the intent was easy enough to figure out: she was inviting Kaji to leave, out of the cafeteria, out of NERV, and hopefully out of Japan.

"Afraid not," Kaji answered in English, for no other reason than to irk Misato. "Got no plans to leave for the time being." Riana sat, across from Shinji, and both were doing their best not to look at each other. Rei was intent on eating, and Asuka resumed her lamprey-like attachment to Kaji. "Shinji's pretty famous in our biz," Kaji said to Riana. "The Third Child who piloted an Eva in battle—with _no_ prior training. And he's defeated three others to boot." Riana tried not to stare at Shinji, who turned red with embarrassment. The boy did not look like he could defeat a determined housefly.

"I defeated the fourth Angel," Asuka added. "By myself."

Riana's fork stopped halfway to her mouth. _By herself? That doesn't sound right._ But then she remembered the newscasts: that had been the latest battle, between one of the Evas and an Angel at sea. Riana recalled that the Eva was red, and it fit that it must have been Asuka's. NERV probably designed them to be piloted by one person.

"Oh…er…" Shinji continued to stare at his tray, then glanced around, again unable to meet anyone's eyes. "It was just luck."

"Luck is what others call skill when they have none," Riana blurted. The words jumped out of her mouth. "Um, according to my grandmother, anyway."

"Riana's right, Shinji," Kaji agreed. "Your luck is ability, not an accident. You have a natural gift. Give Riana here some pointers, neh?" Shinji's blush deepened, and out of the corner of one eye, Riana saw Asuka's smile fade and her face darken. It did not take a psychic to see jealousy. Rei kept eating.

Around a mouthful of food, Kaji told Misato, "We've got to stash Riana at your place for a few days until we find her something. Commander's orders. Only temporary."

Misato's face darkened quite a bit as well. "Commander Ikari _does_ know I have Shinji and Asuka there too, right?"

Riana opened her mouth to say that all she really needed was six feet of vacant space, but Kaji spoke first. "He knows." He took a drink of soda, then grinned at Shinji. "Hey, does she still sleep sprawled all over the bed?"

Misato's mouth dropped open in horror. Asuka looked as if she had been shot. Shinji plainly fought down an impulse to flee. Riana's eyes were as wide as her plate. Rei kept eating.

Finally Misato found her voice. "What the _hell_ are you saying?" Why she spoke in English Riana did not know, because it was probably not for Riana's benefit. "In front of children, no less!"

"Why's it wrong in front of children?" Riana asked with painful naivete.

Misato let out something between a shriek and a groan, and raised her fists. There was no doubt of their destination. "GO AWAY!" she shouted in Japanese, and Riana did not need a translation.

Kaji finished his food calmly, stood up, gave Misato an ironic bow and Riana a gentle hug—which earned both of them a murderous glance from Asuka—and his smile widened as Misato began to turn an interesting shade of purple. "My work here is done. _Sayonara,_ Riana-san. I leave you in the Major's capable, lovely hands." He retreated from the cafeteria before Misato could find something to kill him with.

 _Well,_ Riana thought in the very awkward silence, _whether my stay here is long or short, at least it won't be dull._


	9. Welcome to the Jungle

_Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _17 October 2015_

Asuka Langley-Soryu slammed her hand down on the alarm with a muttered German curse. She groaned and covered her face with the pillow for a moment, realized that there was no point in putting it off any longer, then got up. Yawning, she grabbed a towel and walked to the bathroom, crossing the living room in the process. She paused and stared at Riana Arashikaze, who was asleep on the couch.

As a rule, Asuka did not have much time for Americans. She tended to find them loud, arrogant and all too eager to give the rest of the world their opinion, whether or not the rest of the world wanted to hear it. Despite that, Asuka had judged Riana the day before, and decided she posed no threat. Assuming that Riana even made it through the training, she was not going to be as good as Asuka was. That was not arrogance; merely a fact, so far as Asuka was concerned.

Still, Asuka was a bit grumpy this morning, and, as she often did, decided to share her mood. She kicked the sofa. "Get up," she said loudly, in English. "Time for school."

Riana's eyes finally opened on the second kick. She looked Asuka up and down, then rolled over. "Go 'way." She cradled a stuffed Inu-Yasha to her chest, one that had seen better days.

Asuka kicked a third time, hard enough to nearly dislodge the cushions. "C'mon, up! I'm not gonna be late because of you, Sister Riana!" She rather liked the sound of that. "I thought nuns were supposed to be up with the dawn. Get _up!"_

Riana flung off the covers and sat up, teeth bared. "Fine! I'm awake! Now fuck off!"

Asuka blinked; those were not words you learned in a convent. "Okay, sheesh." She resumed walking to the bathroom, muttering about loud, stupid Americans.

Riana muttered about loud, stupid Germans—Asuka's heritage had come up the night before—and rummaged through her suitcase for her toiletries. Just as she did so, Asuka stuck her head around the corner. "Hey, Sister Riana! Go wake up Baka Shinji."

"Why don't you bite my—" Riana caught herself. For one thing, Asuka was no longer there; the bathroom door slammed shut. For another, her anger was just a diversion from the fact that her body was telling her it was nearly midnight, when the rays of dawn were lighting up the apartment. Riana was not a morning person to begin with.

She kept up a whispered litany of how much she hated mornings, Germans, and Japan's time zone as she walked to Shinji's room. Riana rapped on the boy's door. "Shinji-san! Shinji-san, wake up." She repeated it, but there was no sound from within. She realized that Shinji might not be able to understand her. "Oh, damn," she said softly, "I don't remember how to say 'wake up' in Japanese—"

 _"Mewosamasu?"_

Riana whirled and planted her face directly into Misato's chest. Misato stepped back, amused. "Good morning," she said in English.

"Um, morning," Riana replied. "I mean, _ohayo—"_

"Aw, don't worry about it." She brushed past Riana and opened Shinji's door. "I'll get him up." She bent over the prone boy and began violently shaking him. Riana blushed: if the shaking did not wake up Shinji, the sight of Misato's breasts nearly escaping her top would.

* * *

The three of them—Asuka, Shinji, and Riana—walked to school, a fact that Riana was quite thankful for. She had rode in the major's battered Renault Alpine the day before, and was sure that Misato would not soon get the impression of Riana's fingernails out of the passenger seat armrests.

It was a beautiful morning. Shinji was quiet, which Riana gathered was his usual mode. Asuka was prattling on in Japanese, but neither Shinji nor Riana paid much attention—the latter because she could not follow half of it, and because she was preoccupied with the standard Japanese girls' school uniform. Not only did Riana feel ridiculous, the skirt ended just above her knees. For Riana, who loathed dresses and whose fashion tastes remained stuck in the Victorian Era, it was far too revealing. She continually tugged at it to try and bring it down, but to no avail.

" _Mein Gott,_ Riana," Asuka finally snapped, "will you _stop_ that? You act like you're wearing a miniskirt or something."

"It's too short!" Riana complained.

"For a child, maybe." Asuka shook her head. "You should be flaunting it, you know. You've got nice legs." _Asuka just complimented me?_ Riana thought incredously. "Don't you think so, Shinji?" Asuka added.

The question caught Shinji offguard, which was exactly what Asuka intended. He involuntarily glanced at Riana's legs, which got them both to blush, and both found other things more interesting to look at. Shinji mumbled, "Er, I guess so…" Asuka grinned and chuckled.

Four blocks and three skirt tugs later, they reached the school. Riana's mouth dropped open: there were so many students. She had anticipated that she would have to get used to being around far more people than she was used to, but this was something else. She was going to be around this crowd for six hours out of each day, six days a week. What was more, a lot of the students were male. Riana, convent-bred girl, had never seen so many boys in her life.

And some of them were looking squarely at her.

Asuka noticed Riana's wide eyes and growing blush, and correctly figured out what caused it. "Oh, that's _right."_ The other girl's face lit up with unholy joy. "I forgot. You grew up in a convent. Better be careful there, Sister Riana. I can hear your hormones popping from here."

"Oh, bite me," Riana snapped.

"I won't, but they might." Asuka thumbed at some of the boys as they walked towards the entrance. "Relax, Riana; they're staring at me, mostly." Which was true: most of the boys were casting lustful glances at Asuka, but there were still enough of them mentally stripping Riana to make her uncomfortable. Riana desperately looked to Shinji for reassurance, but he was lengthening his stride, with no desire to be caught between them. Not a few of the boys were looking at Shinji with envy and rage: it was already known that he was close to Rei Ayanami as well as Asuka, but now there was someone new.

"You're kind of full of yourself," Riana told Asuka.

Asuka shrugged. "Not lying, Sister Riana. You can buy pics of me in my gym outfit for 30 yen." She winked. "If you think I'm lying, go ask one of them. They think I don't know, but I do." She took on an utterly synthetic expression of shock. "Oh wait, you don't know about the gym uniforms either. If you think the skirts are short, you haven't seen anything yet." Asuka caught a glimpse of blue hair. "Well, well; there's Rei. Go check in at the front office, Riana—it's the second door on the right after you walk in. I'll catch up with you in class." With that, Riana left.

"Who the hell do you think you are, giving me orders…" Riana's voice trailed off, as she realized that Asuka was right: she _did_ need to check in on her first day. With all too many eyes on her and the latest round of barbs once more decided in the German girl's favor, Riana stalked towards the entrance and entered the office.

She approached the oaken bannister that separated the students' area from the administrators. " _Sumimasen,"_ she said, clearing her throat. " _Watashi wa Arashikaze Riana—"_

The matronly secretary turned to her and smiled. "Oh, hello," she said in English. "We were expecting you, Miss Arashikaze."

"Oh. Um…you were?"

"Why, yes. Major Misato Katsuragi called and said you would be starting today. Did you bring your passport?"

"Um, sure." Riana reached into her knapsack and handed it over. The secretary peered at it for a moment, then opened a folder, and stamped a few papers in rapid-fire fashion. "All your paperwork's taken care of, and we've got all your records. Here's your schedule." She handed Riana a small card. "You're assigned to Class 2-A. The teacher knows you're coming, and he knows you're not fluent in Japanese yet. We've made some arrangements to accommodate you."

"I…see." Riana reflected that Kaji was not joking about Tokyo-3 being a company town.

"And here's your school folder. Welcome, Miss Arashikaze. It's always nice to see a fresh face."

Riana bowed respectfully. "Thank you, ma'am—I mean, _domo arigato._ " She looked at the school map on the folder, then went pale as the clock chimed. "Better hurry; it's on the second floor," the secretary said helpfully.

"Yes, ma'am!" Riana gave another quick bow and ran out the door. Her skirt billowed up and she skidded to a slower walk, sure that everyone had seen her underwear.

The door to the principal's office opened. "Who was that, Kodachi-san?"

The secretary turned in her chair. "Oh, Miss Bishamon. That was the new exchange student—the American girl. The one that NERV called about?"

"Riana Arashikaze? You should have called me."

"I'm sorry, Miss Bishamon. Should I send someone to Class 2-A to bring her back?" Bishamon looked lost in thought. "Miss Bishamon?"

Bishamon blinked. "No…no, that's all right." She smiled, but it was not a happy smile. "There will be time. All the time in the world."


	10. Like to Get to Know You Well

_Class 2-A_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _18 October 2015_

 _Down, across, up, back across…a little more of this and I'll get the combo move._ Riana stepped back and inspected her handiwork. The kanji for her name looked legible, at least. She had spent an hour a few days before at the convent practicing it. With parade-ground precision, Riana spun on one heel and executed a flawless bow to the people in Class 2-A. _"Ohayo gozaimasu. Watashi no namae wa Arashikaze Riana desu. Dozo yoroshiku."_ Good morning, my name is Riana Arashikaze. Pleased to meet you. Riana put a smile on it; from the other students' expressions, another of her stock phrases had worked just fine.

The class returned the bow, and the teacher smiled; he motioned her to an empty desk in the third row. The teacher was an old man, older than her grandmother, with white hair slicked back and watery brown eyes hidden behind coke-bottle glasses. He was friendly enough, and spoke English passably well, but warned Riana that he naturally taught the course in Japanese. The laptop on her desk had a translation program, which would help some, but it was apparent that Riana's Japanese would have to improve quickly.

Riana wondered just how much the teacher knew as she took her seat. Obviously everyone knew she was assigned to NERV, but she had no idea if the school knew she was a prospective pilot. The security was not impressive: all three current Evangelion pilots were in the same class. If someone wanted to kill them all, it would be ridiculously easy. Shinji was three seats in front of her, at the head of the class, and Asuka was just across the aisle from her. Rei was two rows over, by the window.

The teacher directed the class to switch on their laptops and bring up a certain page in the history section. Unlike everyone else's computer text, hers was in English, not kanji, and Riana was able to follow along with what the teacher was saying, by picking up Japanese words here and there, and matching them to the screen. It was a history of Second Impact.

To her surprise, not only was most of the class not paying attention to the lecture, they were rather blatant about it. Shinji and Asuka seemed to be, or were doing a good job of pretending to, but Rei was just staring out the window; though she could not be sure, Riana thought there was a nuance of crashing boredom in the pale girl's expression. To make matters worse, the two boys between her and Shinji were talking softly to each other. In the convent, that would have at best earned a ruler across the knuckles, but the teacher either did not notice or did not care.

Abruptly Riana noticed that the boy two seats ahead was looking at her. He was short—of course, everyone in the class was short compared to her. He also had fairer skin and hair than most Japanese, with freckles, and wore thick glasses. She smiled hesitantly, and the boy grinned back at her. He turned and began typing on his laptop. A second later, a small window with a picture of the boy appeared on her screen.

HI, HOW ARE YOU? it read.

Riana typed back GOOD, THANKS. YOU?

BORED. MY NAME IS KENSUKE AIDA.

PLEASED TO MEET YOU. Her fingers hovered over the keys for a moment. DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?

YEAH. WHY? DO YOU NEED HELP WITH THE LECTURE?

WOULD YOU MIND KEEPING IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT? TRYING TO FOLLOW ALONG.

K. SRY—MOST OF US HAVE HEARD THIS BEFORE. A LOT. THE LUNK IN FRONT OF YOU IS TOJI SUZUHARA. DON'T WORRY IF YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIM. HE'S FROM OSAKA. WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND HIM EITHER. There was a pause. BETTER GO. CLASS REP IS LOOKING AT ME. THAT'S HIKARI HORIAKI, BTW. Kensuke closed the message with a smiley emoji, and the window closed.

Riana sent one back, and returned to the lecture. _That was pretty easy,_ she thought. _Not even here an hour yet, and I think I've already made a friend._

There was a clatter of a pencil as it hit the floor, and Shinji reached down to grab it. It bounced out of reach and under Asuka's desk. She bent over to get it, then, after a moment, tossed it to Shinji. He caught the pencil, then noticed that Asuka had smeared a gob of bubblegum across it. Shinji graced Asuka with a dirty look while Asuka's shoulders shook with suppressed giggles.

 _Damn brat,_ Riana thought. _That was a nasty thing to do._ The teacher turned, pointed to Asuka, and instructed her to read from a page in the text. Asuka merely shrugged and glanced down to her laptop, and her mouth fell open. Her laptop was shut off.

 _"Nan ja?"_ the teacher inquired.

"Ah… _chotto mate,"_ Asuka replied. She quickly rebooted the laptop, but it took time and the teacher watched her impatiently. After a few minutes, she was able to read off the lesson flawlessly, but when she sat, Riana could see the back of her neck turn crimson with rage and embarrassment. _Ha!_ Riana laughed inwardly, _karma_ does _exist._

HEY. It was Kensuke again.

?

WANT TO HAVE LUNCH WITH US?

US? Riana replied.

SURE. SHINJI, TOJI, ME.

Riana realized that the quickest way to get over the culture shock was to immerse herself in it. Everything seemed so free here, away from the rigid, military confines of the convent. She really had no friends among the novice nuns at St. Joan of Arc, and here, already, she apparently had some. Things were working out better than she could have imagined.

WHY NOT, she sent back.

* * *

Riana picked up her lunch, thanked the school cooks with a small bow, and looked around for the table with Kensuke. He waved, and she started in that direction. Halfway there, she was intercepted by Asuka. "What the hell do you want?" Riana growled.

"Who lit the fuse on your tampon?" Asuka snapped. "God, Riana…I was just going to invite you to have lunch with Hikari and me."

Riana relaxed. "Oh…sorry. I was going to eat with Shinji, Kensuke and Toji."

"The Three Stooges?" Asuka laughed aloud. "They're weird, you know, even for boys."

"So?"

"Well, okay," Asuka sighed, "but if they want your panties on some dare, don't say I didn't warn you." Asuka walked away. Riana did the same, thinking dark thoughts.

She sat next to Shinji, across from Kensuke. Shinji seemed to sense her mood, because he scooted down a little, out of Riana's estimated slap range. "Hey," Kensuke asked, "were you and Asuka about to go at it?" She was surprised at how good his English was, with a definite American accent.

"No. She…" Riana paused. "She called you the Three Stooges and said you were weird." She was not about to mention the part about the panties.

Kensuke laughed. "That's nothing new."

Toji gruffly asked in Japanese just what they were talking about. Riana guessed that Toji's English was about as good as her Japanese. Kensuke was not kidding: his accent was so thick that she could barely understand even a little of his speech; he might as well have been speaking Swahili. Kensuke smoothly switched to Japanese, then back to English. "So, are you an Eva pilot?"

Riana was taken aback. She looked to Shinji, who gave a short nod. "Kensuke knows," he said.

"Toji?"

Shinji smiled a little, rubbing his cheek. "Oh, yes."

"Pretty much everyone does," Kensuke assured her.

"What about security?"

"Doesn't really matter, I guess. Tokyo-3 is run by NERV. My dad works for the liasion section. My mother was an American; that's why I look like I do. What part of the 'States are you from?"

"Montana."

"The mountains?" Kensuke sighed. "I bet it's pretty there."

Riana was too clueless to realize that Kensuke was staring directly at her when he said it. "The most beautiful place in the world," she said wistfully. With effort, she pushed the memories away. It was hard enough not to feel homesick.

Kensuke again seemed to sense her mood, so he changed the subject. "Anyway, you didn't say you were a pilot."

"Well…I'm not...yet. I'm about to start training."

"Oh." Kensuke abruptly began to pick at his food, and mumbled in Japanese. Riana caught a few words, enough to realize he was deeply envious of her. Unsure of what to say, she picked up her chopsticks and began eating.

"You use those good," Shinji observed.

"I use them _well,_ " Riana gently corrected. "My grandfather was Japanese, and my grandmother learned to cook from him. We ate Japanese food a lot. Nothing spicy, though—Gramma doesn't like it much." She chewed on a particularly tough piece of beef. "I do, though."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Riana had skipped breakfast and was quite hungry. The rice was a little dry, and needed something. She saw the small mound of green paste that smelled like horseradish. _Ah, wasabi,_ she told herself, smeared the rice in the wasabi generously, and took a big bite. She had tasted wasabi before.

Abruptly, she realized that, whatever wasabi she had tasted was apparently the mild kind. This was not. It felt as if someone had lit off napalm on her tongue. It rolled down her throat and exploded into her sinuses. She snatched up her glass of water.

"No, wait—" Kensuke began, but it was too late. All the water did was spread the flames.

" _Son of a bitch!"_ Riana shouted as she spit water all over the table, and Toji. _"Motherfucker!"_

Instant silence reigned the cafeteria. All eyes went to the table of the Three Stooges Plus One. The males did their best to disappear as Riana finally devoured a bread roll, which succeeded in dousing the wasabi. When she realized everyone was staring at her, especially the school's lunch staff, it was too late.

And after that, there was little to do but follow Hikari Horiaki to the principal's office.

They waited for a moment while the secretary—who was not smiling now—fetched the principal. Riana glanced at Hiraki, who gave her a mournful expression. As class representative, it was her duty to report Riana for cursing, but she took no pleasure in it. _"Gomen nasai,_ Horaki-san," Riana sighed. She did not know the right words in Japanese. "I messed up. I wasn't thinking. I know better than that."

Hikari replied, " _Hakkiri wakaranu ga shinpai surukotowanai. Shigata go nai."_ I don't understand, but don't worry. Nothing can be done now. She placed a comradely hand on Riana's shoulder.

"I know." She patted Hikari's hand, then followed the secretary into the principal's office.

* * *

The principal's office looked a bit like the Mother Superior's office, Riana thought, and figured that people in positions of authority must tend to decorate the same. There was the same big desk, the same large window, the same swivel chair. The door closed behind her with the finality of a coffin lid.

The principal was tall for a Japanese woman, a little taller than Riana, and waifish thin. Dark circles around her eyes betrayed a lack of sleep, but the brown eyes were bright and intense. To Riana's surprise, the principal rose from her chair stiffly, and she could see that the principal's right leg was a prosthetic from mid-thigh down. "My name is Kazuko Bishamon," she said in English. "Do you have an explanation? I could hear you from four doors down in the hall." Like Gendo Ikari, she did not engage in any sort of banter: Riana was a student and very much her social inferior.

"It was wasabi," Riana explained. "I wasn't prepared for how spicy it was."

"Hmm. Do you normally use such profanity?"

 _Yes,_ Riana ruefully thought; even severe punishment at the convent—such as standing in the snow for a few hours—failed to break her of the habit. "No, ma'am," she lied. "I was just surprised, that's all."

"Where did you learn such language?"

 _My grandmother._ "I would rather not say."

" _Ah, so desu._ " Bishamon raised a plucked eyebrow and settled back into her chair. "Miss Arashikaze, you are a guest, both at this school and in this nation. America's reputation is less than good and you are not helping matters with such a display. I will overlook this infraction, but next time you will curb your tongue, no matter how hot the wasabi is. Do you understand? _Wakarimasu ka?"_

" _Hai,"_ Riana rasped out.

"Good." Bishamon glanced at a piece of paper. "I suppose it is just as well. Because of your…employment with NERV, you are excused from afternoon classes. The other pilots are waiting for you at the front door. Retrieve your bookbag from Class 2-A first." She faced Riana, who braced like a cadet in a military academy. "You are dismissed, Miss Arashikaze."

" _Hai,"_ Riana acknowledged, bowed deeply, and left.

Bishamon stared at the closed door for a moment, then reached into her desk, where she pulled out a framed picture. It was nearly twenty years old, taken in a different time, before Second Impact. It showed a much younger, more fit Kazuko Bishamon, flashing the V-for-victory sign, laughing at the camera, a long rifle slung over one shoulder. One arm was around a man who bore a striking resemblance to the young girl who had just left, down to the brown hair, blue eyes, and easy smile. The other was around a short, older woman, with jet black hair, who was also laughing, one hand on Bishamon's shoulder, the other on a beer bottle. All three were dressed in camouflage. _To the most kick-ass sniper since Chris Kyle_ was scrawled across the top. Under the other two was signed _Rissa Arashikaze_ and _Thomas Arashikaze._

Bishamon put down the picture, put her head on the desk, and began to cry.

* * *

 _The Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _18 October 2015_

Tokyo-3's light rail system dropped the four children off at one of the Geofront's many entrances. To avoid any talk from Shinji or Asuka—Rei had left before the rest of them—Riana buried her nose in a Japanese phrasebook.

After swiping through their identification cards, the trio made their way through stark metal corridors towards the headquarters area, what Kaji had called Central Dogma. The silence grew too much, and suddenly Asuka whined in English, "Japanese schools are _so_ dull! What low standards!" Riana said nothing: Asuka had mentioned the night before that she already had a college degree; school really was a waste of time for her. "And is that teacher stupid or what? He actually bought that government disinformation!"

"What disinformation?" Riana asked, intrigued.

Asuka snorted. "Well, it figures you wouldn't know, Sister Riana."

"Know what?" Shinji missed a few words of English. When Asuka repeated herself in Japanese, Shinji answered exactly the same as Riana. "What disinformation?"

" _Mein Gott,_ " Asuka exclaimed. "I expect this from her—" a thumb towards Riana, who was desperately trying to follow Asuka's rapid-fire Japanese—"but not from you, Third Child. Don't tell me you don't know about Second Impact."

Shinji looked at Riana, and answered in English for her benefit. "Er…Antarctica blew up due to a giant met..met…"

"Meteor?" she said helpfully.  
"Meteor," Shinji finished. "That is what the textbooks say."

Asuka stared for a second, then erupted in laughter. "You don't know anything, do you? Either of you." Asuka put both hands on her hips. "Fine. Fifteen years ago, a humanoid object, termed the first Angel, was found in Antarctica." She did a fair impression of the teacher's pedantic drone. "During the probe on September 11, 2001, there was an explosion of unknown origin that melted the ice cap— _that_ was Second Impact. Not some meteor."

"September 11?" Riana asked. "That's not right. My grandma said it was September 13." She distinctly remembered the date—it was her mother's birthday.

"Well, she was wrong. Check your textbook—or just listen to our so-called teacher," Asuka said derisively. "It was September 11. 9-11. I hear the Americans call it that. Anyway," Asuka continued, "our duty, as Eva pilots"—she gave Riana a sidelong glance—"is to prevent a _Third_ Impact." She gave an elaborate sigh. "So, they kept you ignorant of the most basic facts. That's unbelievable, Shinji." Though Asuka's lecture was in English, Shinji evidently understood every word, because now he was staring daggers at her. Asuka ignored him and turned to Riana. "See? Now you can say you learned something today, Sister Riana."

"Great," Riana sniffed. "You want a medal…or a _chest_ to pin it on, Asuka?" Riana threw the last with a pointed look at Asuka's bust. It was one area where Riana was clearly superior.

Asuka's face slowly turned red, but before she could explode with a comment about stupid, big-chested Americans, a quiet voice made them all jump. " _Sumimasen,_ " Rei Ayanami said. "May I get by?" Though she wore the same low-heeled shoes as Asuka and Riana, she had arrived from a side corridor without a sound. Asuka was more shouldered aside than moved by Rei. Asuka blinked for a moment, then yelled after her, "Hey, First!"

Rei stopped in mid-stride. " _Hai?"_ she asked, with an icy edge to her voice.

"I hear you're Commander Ikari's pet…even though you're frigid as a stone." Asuka said it in Japanese, deliberately slowly so Riana could understand.

Rei did not react, and merely turned around and resumed walking. "What business is that of yours?" she said over her shoulder.

Asuka purpled with rage, dashed forward, and grabbed Rei's shoulder. "Don't you turn your back on me!" she shouted. "Just because you're the current favorite—" Rei reached up and pulled Asuka's hand off her shoulder, twisting the hand painfully. Asuka gritted her teeth and raised the other hand to slap, but to their collective surprise, it was Shinji who grabbed the raised arm. "Stop it!"

They stood there, frozen for a long minute: Shinji held Asuka's arm, Asuka looked back at him in surprise, Rei's expression for once was one of shock, and Riana stood unmoving, unsure of what to do. Asuka broke the spell by jerking her arm out of Shinji's grasp. Her face twisted into a mask of pure hate. " _Baka!"_ She spit the word at all three of them, and before any of them could react, turned and ran down the hall.

"Okay…what just happened?" Riana said slowly.

"I don't know," Shinji replied in halting English.

"Me neither. We've got to be able to get along…right?"

"I will if I'm ordered to," Rei stated. She walked down the corridor. Shinji shrugged helplessly at Riana and followed. Riana hung back a few paces. _My God,_ she thought, _some team we are._


	11. Enigmatic Soul

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I realize that the story might feel like it's moving slowly. My intention is not to just throw Riana into an Eva. I want her to have to deal with all the intricacies of becoming an Eva pilot, of training, of getting to know the characters of Evangelion, and dealing with a culture that's really different from hers. This way, I can also drop some hints at future events. I've posted two chapters this time, to get the story moving a little faster._

 _The Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _18 October 2015_

"Ah, there you are," Ritsuko Akagi said cheerfully as the three of them came off the very long escalator that led down into Central Dogma. "Any problems so far, Riana?"

"A few, ma'am. A little culture shock, that's all." It occurred to Riana that Ritsuko just might know about the incident with the wasabi. "I'll do better tomorrow."

"I know you will." Riana was not quite sure if Ritsuko was making a threat or not. "Rei, will you show Riana to the locker room? She needs to get on her plugsuit for today's training, and she'll probably need your help. No need for you to suit up. Shinji, follow me."

"Yes, Doctor." Rei turned and walked down another passageway, leaving Riana to catch up. Riana was glad the locker room was not far; she did not want to try and engage Rei in conversation. The other girl seemed so cold, though Riana supposed it could be shyness.

Rei showed her into the locker room. It was no different than any other locker room, except that only three of the lockers had names on them, in both English and kanji: AYANAMI REI, LANGLEY-SORYU ASUKA, and finally ARASHIKAZE RIANA. Riana took that as a good sign, since her name was actually embossed on a nameplate. It gave a sense of permanence. The door to her locker swung open on newly oiled hinges, and Riana remembered Misato's words about there being no locks on doors in Japan. Then again, there was only the three girls attached to the Evangelion Project, though there were twenty lockers in the room. She put her bookbag on the floor of the locker, and pulled out what she supposed was the plugsuit.

It was made of a slick, light material that Riana did not recognize, and was a solid, gray color, except for the upper arms, cutouts on the hips and trim, which were black. It was reinforced in places with high-impact plastic, along the chest, knees, shoulders, and upper back. The reason why it was called a plugsuit was obvious: there were hookups on the suit for hoses. Riana also noticed there was an 04 printed front and back. That made sense as well: she was the potential fourth pilot. It also confirmed her grandmother's suspicion that there were only three other Evangelion pilots.

It was obvious as well that she was not going to put it on over her schoolgirl outfit. Feeling more self-conscious by the moment, Riana stripped down to her underwear and hung up her uniform. She sneaked a glance at Rei, but the latter's expression was as stonelike as ever. Riana held the plugsuit in front of her, both for Rei to inspect and to hide her near-nudity. "So, um, Ayanami-san? I just step into it like a jumpsuit or something?" Rei nodded, but when Riana sat on a bench and began to pull on the suit, Rei shook her head. Riana aped the motion. "What am I doing wrong?"

Rei pointed to her. "Your underwear. We do not wear those with the suits." Her voice was matter of fact.

"You're kidding."

"I am not."

Riana's face turned as red as a stop sign. "You mean…I have…to be _naked?"_

"Is that a problem?"

Riana almost said yes, very loudly, but she bit her lip. _Stop it, Riana,_ she thought. _This is Japan. Nudity's no big deal here. Rei is another girl just like you and she's built exactly the same. Well…close, anyway._ "No…no problem…" Riana summoned up her courage and began to unstrap her bra. Rei sensed her embarrassment and turned away. Her underwear was tossed into the locker, and blushing furiously, Riana shimmied into the plugsuit. It was not as easy as it looked. Without warning, Rei turned around and began helping her; she made no mention of Riana's nakedness, and Riana wondered what it _would_ take for an adverse reaction from Rei Ayanami. Between the two of them, they got the plugsuit over arms, legs and torso, but it fit too loosely: Riana kept her arms raised to keep the top from falling down around her waist. "This isn't going to work," she almost cried.

Rei almost looked irritated for a moment, then touched an amber button on the reinforced wrists of the plugsuit. With a hiss of pressurization, the suit shrank to fit solidly around Riana. The sudden tightness caused her to gasp in surprise, but after the initial shock, she found it was not all that uncomfortable. She squatted up and down, and the suit moved easily. She looked at Rei and smiled. " _Arigato,_ Ayanami-kun."

Rei returned the smile—slightly, almost imperceptibly, but it was there. " _Nani mo,_ Arashikaze-kun." It is nothing. "Follow me," she said, and led Riana out of the locker room.

* * *

Two corridors later, they entered a large briefing room, with stadium-style seating and a large projection room. Ritsuko Akagi and an older gentleman that Riana did not recognize waited there. Ritsuko nodded and smiled. "Good, it fits. Excellent. Any problems?"

"Just feels a little tight," Riana replied, adding in her mind _And I feel like I'm standing here stark naked._ The plugsuit was more than form-fitting: she was quite sure that every fold and projection of her anatomy was on display for all to see.

"That's normal. So are the feelings of nakedness." Riana wondered idly if Ritsuko was a telepath. "We had to make sure there was as little as possible between skin and the LCL." She motioned to the older man. "This is Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki." Riana recognized the name and bowed, but Fuyutsuki had already put out his hand. She quickly straightened up, but now Fuyutsuki was returning the bow, leaving Riana grasping at empty air. Finally, they shook hands. Fuyutsuki smiled, to show he was not offended. "Take a seat," Ritsuko instructed, and Riana hurriedly did so before she committed another cultural faux pas. To her surprise, sitting in the plugsuit was not uncomfortable.

Five seconds later, Gendo Ikari walked into the room. Riana remembered the rules of the convent and sprang to her feet, to show respect for an adult. Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki looked a bit surprised, but Gendo gave her the closest thing to a pleased look she had seen so far. When he sat, so did she, though he was now behind her. The lights dimmed slightly, and she turned around so she could see the Commander.

Once more, Gendo was right to the point. "Yesterday, Riana, I asked you if you knew why you were here. Do you remember what I said?"

"Yes, sir. To defeat the Angels."

"Excellent. Do you know what the Angels are?"

Riana shook her head. "No, sir. I was under the impression that no one really knew what they were, or what they want—or why they keep coming here."

"We don't know all of the details," Gendo replied. "We do know there seems to be something here in Tokyo-3 that they want. That is why the Geofront was built. As to what they are, there are only theories, among with they are alien beings."

"Did they cause Second Impact?" Riana remembered Asuka's words.

"That is entirely possible." He paused and looked at Riana through his glasses that sent shivers up her spine. "Do I need to remind you that any information I share is secret?"

"No, sir."

"That includes your grandmother."

"She'll understand, sir."

Gendo graced her with a nod. "Are you aware of what Angels look like, what they are capable of?"

"I've seen some pictures. Some videos on the internet," Riana said.

"Those were the sanitized versions." He pointed a controller at the front of the room. On the screen ahead of them appeared a shot of the forested hills that Riana recognized as the western side of Tokyo-3. A few aircraft appeared from behind the hills, moving backwards, firing rockets. There was no sound. The camera zoomed in as a great, shambling mass of black followed the aircraft; the outlandish figure was broken up by spikes of white around its waist, elbows and shoulders, and a huge red orb on its chest. As it turned, Riana could see that it had something of a face, almost like a doll's, with no discernible eyes. It was not terribly frightening, though Riana changed that assessment when a spike fired from its hands and blew one of the aircraft apart.

"This is Sachiel," Gendo explained. "The first Angel we fought."

Riana watched as the UN's conventional forces fired everything they could: artillery-delivered rockets, air-to-ground missiles, tank shells, antitank missiles, even a small ballistic missile. Nothing worked. Sachiel shrugged off the hits like mosquito bites. The UN forces, their numbers reduced, pulled back. Then the screen turned white, enough to be painful. It faded to a mushroom cloud that rose from an orange fireball. When that dissipated, Sachiel was still there—scratched up, damaged, perhaps even crippled, but not reduced to the ashes it should have been.

Gendo froze the image. "The United Nations' and Japan's forces were completely ineffective, as you saw. They tried everything against Sachiel, including an N2 mass-focus bomb, with the equivalent force of a tactical nuclear weapon. Angels are protected by what we call an AT Field—AT standing for Absolute Terror. The reason why it is called that is not relevant," Gendo continued, which stopped Riana's next question before she could say it. "We are not sure how they generate it, but it essentially makes them impenetrable."

 _Absolute Terror. Charming thought,_ Riana mused. "How do the Evas beat them, then?"

It was Ritsuko who spoke. "Evas can generate their own AT Field. When properly focused, it can penetrate the Angels' field. There are also conventional, though experimental, weapons we are working on that are somewhat effective at slowing and even stopping Angels."

"How do the Evas generate their own—"

"Enough." Gendo cut her off. The viewscreen switched to another view of Sachiel, this time at night and in the middle of the city. From offscreen came something else—taller, purple, not as broad, but if anything more hideous. Riana recognized it from news reports as EVA-01. The two grappled, then Sachiel sent EVA-01 backwards with a bolt of energy. The Angel walked forward and began beating the Eva, but without warning 01 reacted, bared its teeth, and smashed Sachiel to the ground. 01 withdrew a knife, stabbed Sachiel, and moments later the Angel exploded, in a disturbingly cross-shaped blast. EVA-01 showed little damage.

"Your assessment of the battle?" Gendo asked suddenly.

"Um, the Angel—Sachiel—looked like it had EVA-01 on the ropes there, but then the Eva came back and won the fight." Gendo's expression did not change, so Riana added lamely, "The pilot looked a bit inexperienced. Don't you have more than one Eva?"

Fuyutsuki answered that one. "Only recently have we been able to field more than one. We're building more."

"Oh, that's good," Riana said. "Gramma says you really need more than one, because you don't have much of a reserve and…" Her voice trailed off as she realized Gendo's expression _had_ changed, but it was not friendly.

"What _else_ does your grandmother say?" Gendo said harshly. "What is _her_ tactical assessment of what we're doing here?"

Riana swallowed. "Well…" The words came out quickly. "She thinks that NERV's been damn lucky so far, sir. Her words, not mine!" she quickly added.

Gendo's mouth actually moved, and it looked—for a moment—that he was fighting down laughter. "She's right," he replied, and from the looks on Ritsuko and Fuyutsuki, they were not expecting that answer. "We _have_ been lucky, Miss Arashikaze." He shut off the projector and brought up the lights. "Each time we have succeeded through a combination of luck and skill. We cannot afford to trust in luck. You are here, Miss Arashikaze, in the hope that you might prove of some worth as an Evangelion pilot. If Pilot Ikari, Pilot Soryu, or Pilot Ayanami is debilitated or killed, you will need to step in immediately. You must have no fear, no regrets, and no compassion. Do you understand?"

"Completely, sir," Riana answered.

"See that you do." Gendo stood, and Riana followed a half-second later. "Dr. Akagi, why don't you show Miss Arashikaze her…training wheels, as you put it. Then I think that is enough for today." Another half-smiled. Ritsuko motioned Riana to follow her, but as they left the room, Gendo called out, "Miss Arashikaze?"

"Sir?"

"Try not to screw this up as well. Your performance at school today was not reassuring. Such an outburst was childish. If you act like a child, you will be treated like one. Are you a child?"

Riana turned red, but this time it was anger. "No, sir."

"It will not happen again. _Wakarimasu ka?"_

" _Hai."_ Despite herself, she could not help but almost spit the word at Gendo. The door slid shut behind her.

"Was that necessary?" Fuyutsuki asked as he followed Gendo out the opposite door.

"Which part, Doctor?"

"That final jibe about what happened at school. You said it was a minor incident when Dr. Akagi reported it, nothing to worry about. That made her angry."

"Good," Gendo said as he turned the corner and left Fuyutsuki behind. "That is _exactly_ what I wanted to do."


	12. Instruments of Destruction

Riana's cheeks were still burning by the time they reached the Evangelion holding bay, but it was not just because of Gendo Ikari. _He's right,_ she thought, _I really screwed up today. Well, I'm not screwing_ this _up. I'm going to become a pilot!_ Then the door opened, and she let out her breath in a gasp.

The holding bay was immense. Riana guessed that it was at least a half mile across, and probably forty stories high. It was subdivided into bays, with huge doors like the locks on a canal, some open and some closed. These bays opened into a single gigantic corridor that led to a set of blast doors marked, like all signs in NERV, in both English and Japanese, _EVA LAUNCH CHAMBER._ The fact that there were more than three bays seemed to suggest at some point NERV could and would field more of their mecha—and that assumed that this was the only holding bay in the Geofront. _With that many Evas,_ Riana thought, _NERV would be unstoppable. Is that what Gramma is afraid of? If Evas can generate those AT Fields, and they're impervious to conventional weapons, how powerful does that make NERV? And Gendo Ikari?_ She did not like the answer to those questions.

"This is EVA-00," Ritsuko suddenly spoke, which startled Riana. It was surprisingly quiet in the bay, aside from the burble of hushed conversation from a small battalion of techs working there. "Pilot Ayanami's Eva."

"The first one built?"

"The first prototype," Ritsuko confirmed. "We built others, of course—half-scale models, preproduction versions—that sort of thing. Unit Zero was the first full-scale prototype."

"It looks brand new."

"That's because we just repainted it. Blue suits Rei better than international orange, don't you think?" Ritsuko kept walking, which left Riana scrambling to catch up. Riana had seen plenty of mecha anime—one reason why she was looking forward to piloting one—and EVA-00 was, in her opinion, what a mecha should look like. It was sleek, almost humanlike, with a single eye that she thought might be a viewport.

EVA-01, which they came to next, looked like something out of a nightmare. Like EVA-00, it was immersed to its chest in orange goo Ritsuko called LCL. EVA-00's head was starkly functional, but EVA-01's looked like a cross between an angry praying mantis and Darth Vader. Its eyes were two black pits, and its visage made it look like it was grinning at her, in the same way a cat would grin at its dinner. She had seen it on the videos, but face to face with EVA-01 was something entirely different. She noted that 01 had indeed seen some hard fighting: its paint was dull and scarred, even mismatched in places where new armor plates were replaced. "This is Shinji's?" Riana asked.

"That's right," Ritsuko confirmed. "Though all Eva cockpits are universal. Shinji—Pilot Ikari—could pilot Unit Zero if we needed him to."

"It's hideous."

"We didn't spend money on aesthetics," Ritsuko said.

"Why purple?" Riana, despite herself, stepped closer to the Eva.

Ritsuko was silent for a moment, then admitted, "You know, I'm not entirely sure, Riana."

"Just hope mine isn't pink."

Ritsuko chuckled. "We wouldn't do that to you."

Riana got to the edge of the catwalk they stood on. From this angle, EVA-01's head loomed over her, which made it even more frightening. _They may not have spent money on aesthetics,_ she mused, _but they sure as hell wanted to make it look mean. It looks like a skull, or something out of one of those alien horror movies—_

A pain like a scalpel shot across her forehead, and reflexively her left hand shot up to her temple. Her stomach lurched dangerously. Spots appeared before her eyes. Riana staggered and nearly fell. Something was suddenly very wrong.

Ritsuko grabbed her arm. "Riana? Riana, are you all right?"

"I…I don't know," Riana said. "I'm…" The pain faded just as quickly as it had come, and she found she was able to straighten up. "I think I'm okay. I don't know what happened…maybe it's this plugsuit."

Ritsuko looked more curious than anything else. "That's strange. Well, we'll make one more stop and then you can take it off."

"Sure." Riana followed Ritsuko, with one fearful glance back at EVA-01. She half-expected it to turn its head and stare after her, maybe even lunge for her, but the mecha had not moved at all. She focused her attention on EVA-02, which did not look much better than 01, with six eyes instead of two. There was the trill of a phone, and Ritsuko pulled her smartphone from a pocket in her lab coat. " _Hai?"_ Riana could not follow what was said to her, but caught something about power levels. " _Docchi?"_ Ritsuko demanded. Which one? There was more Japanese she could not follow, then Ritsuko signed off.

"Everything okay?"

Ritsuko nodded. "Lieutenant Ibuki in Terminal Dogma just wanted to report that your heart rate jumped."

"How did she know that?"

The doctor poked the plugsuit. "This allows us constant monitoring of your vital signs. Heart rate, oxygen level, any wounds—the suit will seal off automatically, and even administer CPR if necessary. If you feel the need to urinate—" Riana went beet red, and Ritsuko laughed. "Perhaps we can let that wait for another day." Now Riana felt even more naked. "It's invasive, yes, but it's necessary," Ritsuko assured her, and began to walk again. "In battle, we must know how our pilots are doing, _neh?_ Ah, here we are." Ritsuko motioned to her right. "Your training wheels, Riana."

Riana turned and found herself face to face with yet another monster. It was shorter than the other Evas, and not quite as streamlined: whereas the other Evas' armor plates conformed roughly to a human design that slimmed down to narrow hips and legs, this model was more blocky, with wider hips and flat, angled armor panels. It lacked the high shoulder baffles of EVA-01 and 02, with more cut-down versions that stuck out ten feet to either side; Riana was reminded of the starched wings of a Japanese nobleman's kimono. Three ports dotted its chest, and it was bull-necked: the other Evas might have been inspired by samurai, ninjas, or bugs for all Riana knew, but this one looked like an American NFL linebacker. Compared to the bright blue, red, and purple of the other Evas, this one was finished in a dark gray, with panels picked out in white. Riana noted the color was almost identical to her plugsuit, and got the feeling that it was not coincidental.

It was the head that caught her attention most. It was a cross between the oblong functionality of EVA-00 and the grinning terror of EVA-01. Its nose ended in almost a snout, and like 01, it seemed to have jagged teeth, as well as two, dark eyes. Two triangular bumps stood up from either side of the skull, and Riana suddenly realized what the head resembled. "A wolf," she said. "It looks like a wolf."

"That is somewhat intentional," Ritsuko said at Riana's side. "We were experimenting with head designs at this point. We weren't really sure how to proceed…at one point, we even set the 'eyes'—those are sensors, by the way, not viewports—on either side of the head, like deer. Then Commander Ikari mentioned that the Evas are, in their own way, hunters. Much like human beings, their eyes should be set forward. In the first production model—EVA-02—we went with omnidirectional multisensors. More efficient than the human style, or the single lens of Unit Zero, and…" Ritsuko smiled. " _Sumimasen,_ Riana. I tend to get a little carried away by my life's work."

"That's okay." Riana leaned over the railing. She was glad that she did not get the headache this time. "Does it have a number?"

"It was called EVA-A, because it was built as a proof-of-concept machine and technology demonstrator for the UN. Since then we've used it to test mainly new weapon designs and pilot control interfaces, mainly for EVA-03, which as you may know, is being built in the United States, along with EVA-04. Because of that, we gave it the hybrid designation of EVA-03A."

"So…it's basically some sort of Frankenstein."

"On the contrary," Ritsuko corrected, a little miffed at one of her creations being maligned. "EVA-03A is meant to be an intermediate step—a trainer, if you like. We always intended to build training versions of the Evas, but because of funding and events, we were never able to do so. Pilot Ayanami and Pilot Akagi never needed them, and there wasn't time for Pilot Ikari. You, we can take our time with and evaluate. If you pass our tests and become a pilot, you will almost certainly get one of the American-built Evas—entirely appropriate, you may agree."

Riana laughed a little. "And it makes good press."

"You're right," Ritsuko nodded. "I'm glad to see that you do sense some of the reasons why you are here. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get funding to save the world."

"Fair enough." Riana turned her attention back to EVA-03A. It too seemed to grin at her, but for some reason it felt almost friendly. "So when do I get to take her out?"

"Her?" Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "Hm. It always seemed like a 'he' to me…perhaps tomorrow. You've had quite the first day, Riana, and I'm a little concerned about what happened to you just now. I don't think it's the plugsuit; I think you're just exhausted."

"Yeah, could be." Riana abruptly noticed that Rei Ayanami was walking towards them; the other girl had an unnerving tendency to appear out of thin air. "Rei will show you back to the locker room," Ritsuko said, "and Major Katsuragi will take you back to her apartment. You'll probably only be there a few more days until we can find you a place. Sleep well, Riana."

"Thanks, Doctor Akagi." She bowed to the doctor, then followed Rei—but not without one backward glance at EVA-03A. It seemed to wait for her, patiently. She hurried past EVA-01, which seemed to wait for something entirely more sinister.

* * *

Ritsuko made her way back to the bridge at Terminal Dogma. It was deserted—by now, it was getting on into the evening, and with NERV on stand-down, Makato Hyuga and Shigeru Aoba were gone for the day. Only Maya Ibuki was left, tapping away at her computer. "Good evening, Ibuki-san," Ritsuko said.

Maya jumped a little, but turned in her seat. "Oh, sempai! Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

She leaned over Maya's seat. "I want to see Riana Arashikaze's vital signs, just before you called me."

"Right away, sempai." Maya's fingers skipped across the keyboard. She brought up two windows on the screen: one a readout of Riana's vitals, the other a feed capture from the cameras mounted in the Eva holding bay. "Here she is following you. She stops right in front of Unit Zero for a minute…checks it out…then she runs to catch up with you at Unit One." The heart rate slightly jumped, the settled down, then sped up again. "She gets kind of pale here. I think she's scared of Unit One," Maya laughed.

"We're used to the Evas. She isn't." Ritsuko, contrary to popular belief at NERV, was not a humorless woman, but she was in no mood for levity. Maya's giggles ceased instantly and they went back to watching the feed. Riana walked forward to the edge of the catwalk, touched her forehead, and almost went down. Ritsuko glanced at the first monitor: Riana's heart rate jumped alarmingly, faster than if she was running; blood flow increased to the extremities. "Fight or flight reaction," Ritsuko mused. She froze the image.

"If Unit One scared her that bad—" Maya began.

"She's not looking at Unit One," Ritsuko cut her off. "She's not looking at anything." She cursed under her breath; if Riana had been in an Eva, they could have monitored her brain patterns as well. "All right. Now what about Unit One?"

"That's what I called you about," Maya said, rather unnecessarily, since Ritsuko already knew that. She brought up a new window. EVA-01's neural network had briefly lit up, showing activity. In theory, this was impossible, as there was no pilot inside. The network pulsed for a few moments, then shut down back to its normal, dormant state.

"Did you run a diagnostic?" Ritsuko asked.

"Of course. It's fine. No damage, nothing." Maya hesitated. "Sempai, I know the Evas are kind of…alive. We saw what Unit One did when Shinji was knocked out fighting Sachiel. There was no danger this time, though. I don't know what it is. I ran a diagnostic on the circuits, too…I thought maybe it was a computer error—"

"No, something set it off." Ritsuko stared at the figure of Riana Arashikaze. _Or someone,_ she added to herself.


	13. The Way You Make Me Feel

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: Pilot Akagi? Um, that was deliberate. Yep. All according to the prophecy, you see._

Save for the light in the dining room, it was mostly dark in Misato's apartment. The pilots had done their homework after a rather bland dinner, punctuated by the occasional belch from Misato. The blandness was Riana's fault. It was actually Asuka's turn to cook, but she got out of that by informing Riana that it was "tradition" that the newest—if temporary—member of the Katsuragi household cook dinner. Riana naively believed her. Unfortunately, Riana had never mastered the culinary arts at the convent, and the result, while not terrible, was not pleasant either. Shinji diplomatically complimented Riana on her efforts while reaching for the salt, Misato said it went down better with a Yebisu Super Dry (which was true of most items on the menu at the apartment), and Asuka stated that it was better than starving or anything Misato could cook.

Shinji finished his homework early and excused himself, with a sidelong glance at the three women he was now sharing an apartment with. Asuka also finished, looked at Riana's homework, remarked "You spelled number five wrong," and retreated to her room as well. Riana fumed silently, mainly because Asuka was right. She went back to her homework with murder in her eyes.

She was still at it an hour later when Misato finally rose from her position on the couch, crumpled a beer can, made a perfect three-pointer into the garbage can, and padded over to Riana. "How's it going?"

Riana decided to be honest. "Terrible." She thumbed through a dictionary and back to the assignment. "I'll never master this…" She was cut off by a yawn.

"Why don't you get some sleep? It'll probably make more sense in the morning. You had a long day," Misato advised.

"I won't be able to sleep if I don't get this done, ma'am."

Misato gently rapped Riana on the shoulder. "Don't call me ma'am. You've been doing that all day—ma'am this and Major that. You can call me Misato or Misato-san if you want."

"Wouldn't that be impolite, ma'…er, Misato-san?"

Misato waved it off. "Oh, in my place I don't care about all that. Taking off your shoes is as traditional as I get. You don't see Asuka standing on etiquette—she calls me Misato, along with some unprintable stuff when she's huffy, and calls Shinji by his first name when she's in a good mood and _baka_ when she isn't."

"I don't want to be like her," Riana said grumpily.

Misato shrugged. "Don't let Asuka get under your skin. She just likes getting a rise out of people. She likes to fight."

"Is she a good pilot?" Riana asked.

"Asuka is the best we have," Misato answered, with only a small amount of hesitation.

"Great." Riana went back to her homework. For some reason, Misato's answer annoyed her.

Misato looked over her shoulder. "That's not the same assignment as Shinji and Asuka's."

"No, ma…Misato-san. Principal Bishamon gave me extra homework for cursing in the lunchroom."

"Oh. Borrow your pencil?" Misato took the pencil and made some quick notes. "Does that help?"

Riana blinked in amazement. With a few scratches, Misato had solved a word exercise that had nearly defeated Riana, and unlocked the secret of verb tenses in Japanese. "It can't be that easy!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, compared to English, Japanese is easy."

"Where did you learn your English, Misato-san?" They shared a smile as Riana finally got that one right.

"A close friend of mine in college." Misato's eyes went distant, and for a moment, the smile faded. Then it returned with a devilish tilt. "In bed, actually, between bouts of the hottest sex I've ever had. G'night, Riana." Misato winked and half-skipped into her room, suppressing a laugh at Riana's red face and dropped jaw.

Riana closed her mouth and went back to her books. "I will never, ever figure out this fucked-up country," she said, and felt better.

* * *

Half an hour later, after a cup of coffee—Riana despised tea—and with Misato's hints, she shut the books, stretched, went into the bathroom, and changed into pajamas. Once that was done, she switched off the lights, made sure everything was off in the apartment, and went to the sofa. As she had done since she old enough, Riana knelt next to her ersatz bed and began to pray in a soft whisper.

The Lord's Prayer and the silence was shattered by Asuka Langley-Soryu. "What are you doing?" She said it in a normal voice, but it still sounded like a pistol shot in the room.

Riana resumed her prayer, finished, and then shot Asuka a look that would freeze a supernova. "Praying. What does it look like?"

"Oh. Well, makes sense. Who for?"

Riana was not sure if Asuka was genuinely asking or making fun of her, and assumed the latter. "None of your business, Asuka."

Asuka did not react and headed for the bathroom. "Someone's bitchy. I bet you didn't pray for _me_."

"If you must know, I did," Riana said.

Asuka stopped. "Why?"

"You're a fellow pilot. I also pray for Rei and Shinji as well."

Asuka leaned over the sofa. "Listen to me, Sister Riana. Your self-righteous act may fool Misato, but not me. We're not _fellow_ pilots. You haven't even seen the inside of an Eva yet. And when you meet an Angel for the first time…" Asuka shook her head, and there was something odd in her voice. "Wait until you see it." She straightened up. "Keep your prayers, Riana. There's no God listening. Trust me on that."

Riana shot to her feet. Asuka's occasional jibes she could take, but no one insulted her faith. "What is your fucking problem, Asuka?"

" _You_ are my fucking problem," Asuka snapped. "You and Baka Shinji and Wonder Girl. When we're out there, someone's inexperience, probably yours, is going to get me killed. And if we fail, everyone dies! I don't have the time to save anyone's ass. I've been trained since birth to do this. So has Rei—I'll give Wonder Girl that much. And Shinji at least has some experience. But you? You're a wannabe, Sister Riana. Just some snot-nosed, overbuilt American who thinks she's better than everyone else."

"That's not true and you know it!" Riana stabbed a finger at Asuka.

Asuka slapped Riana's finger aside. "Get the hell back to your convent, Riana. You don't belong here, get it? You're just going to get someone killed." They glared at each other for a moment, then Asuka broke off. "I have to pee." She walked to the bathroom and slammed the door.

A minute or so later, Asuka came out and headed back to her room. To her surprise, Riana was kneeling again, and once more her lips moved in silent prayer. "Still praying? Well, if it makes you sleep better—"

"I'm praying for you."

The note of pity in Riana's voice actually took Asuka aback. "Why?"

"You need it."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Riana finished, climbed onto the couch, pulled the covers up, tucked Inu-Yasha in next to her, and closed her eyes. Asuka, incensed, made a grab for the stuffed toy, but Riana, without opening her eyes, pulled it beneath her. "I asked you a question, Sister—"

"Because you're scared, Asuka." Riana opened her eyes and stared up at her, eyes placid in the darkness. "You're scared, just as much as I am or anyone else."

Asuka's fists clenched so hard Riana heard the other girl's knuckles crack. She hesitated, came to an apparent decision not to murder Riana on the spot, and stomped back to her bedroom, with another door slam.

Riana closed her eyes again, but not before she heard Misato sleepily shout that the next person who slammed a door was sleeping outside.

* * *

Next morning, the walk to school was brisk and icy. Brisk, because the three teens had overslept five minutes; the clocks in the house had stopped overnight. Icy, because of the stares Asuka and Riana shot at each other, which left no doubt that the confrontation the night before was not forgotten nor forgiven. Shinji was caught squarely between them, which felt like being between two pieces of plutonium. He was all too happy to get to school, but as they took their regular seats, Shinji realized in horror that he was _still_ between Asuka and Riana, even if obliquely. Asuka ignored everyone and immersed herself in an online novel, while Riana followed the teacher—not for the lecture, which was much of the same as the day before's, but for his Japanese. Rei, as usual, stared out the window. Kensuke and Toji noted the supercharged air, because they kept quiet.

Shinji decided to take his lunch on the roof of the school. While technically against the rules, it was at least safe and quiet. The latter was a vain hope: just as Shinji sat down and opened his _bento,_ Kensuke and Toji appeared. They took position on either side of him. "What the hell did you do, man?" Kensuke demanded.

"Me?" Shinji answered. "What are you talking about?"

"We're talking about Asuka and Riana," Kensuke put in. "They're ready to kill each other, in case you didn't notice."

"Yeah, and I bet it's over you!" Toji added.

 _I must have been a serial killer in a past life to deserve this,_ Shinji thought morosely. "I didn't do anything," he pleaded. "They had some sort of argument last night."

There was silence for the space of ten seconds. "And?" Kensuke exclaimed. "What was it _about?_ Details, Shinji, details!"

"I don't know, all right? They were yelling at each other in English, and I was trying to sleep."

Toji put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "You poor bastard."

"You _lucky_ bastard," Kensuke corrected wistfully. "To have to live in the same apartment as Asuka, Riana, _and_ Misato?" He sighed. "You must've been really good in another life." He sat down and opened his lunch, while Toji did the same with a bread roll. It was quiet again as they ate, then Kensuke remarked, "Asuka's from Germany. I wonder if she's…you know…experienced."

Toji shook his head. "Nah. She's frigid as an iceberg. Ain't nobody getting in that."

Kensuke shrugged. "Well, what about Riana then? She's an American. They can get kinda loose with their affections, according to my dad."

"Would explain you," Toji grinned at him. Kensuke rolled his eyes.

"Riana was raised in a convent," Shinji said between mouthfuls.

"Like a nun?" At Shinji's nod, Toji's grin grew wider. "She don't know nothin', then. She'd be perfect for Aida there."

Kensuke decided to run with Toji's train of thought. "Oh, how I wish. I'd educate her—" His face abruptly went pale, for standing at the door to the roof stairwell as none other than the object of his current lustful fantasy, Riana Arashikaze. Toji and Kensuke quickly stood as one, bowed to Riana, and were past her in an instant, which left her bowing to empty air and Shinji. "What the hell was that all about?" she remarked to herself. Shinji heard and understood her, but felt it best to keep quiet. To his growing uneasiness, she walked over, sat in Toji's spot, and smoothed her skirt. "Damn dress," she mumbled, then turned to Shinji and smiled. "Good afternoon, Ikari-kun," she said in Japanese.

"Good afternoon, ah, Arashikaze-kun."

"Do you want lunch company?" She winced. "Excuse me. Do you want company for lunch?"

Shinji really preferred to be alone, but preferred even more not to argue. "Sure."

" _Domo._ " Riana unwrapped the lunch she had gotten from the cafeteria, and ate in silence. Shinji found it hard to concentrate: she was sitting uncomfortably close to him. From a Japanese person—or, say, from Asuka—her closeness would have bordered on the impolite, but Shinji was sure Riana was unaware of it. He had noticed the night before that she was sitting closer to Misato that was really necessary, though the older woman did not appear to notice. What made things worse was the fact that Riana had loosened her collar and bow to deal with the humidity, which exposed entirely too much pale skin. Shinji, to his horror, found something Kensuke had said repeating in his mind, like a stuck SDAT: _Did you know Arashikaze-kun has the largest breasts in our class?_ Granted, there was not much in the way of competition in a class of 15 and 16 year old girls, but teenage boys were not about to complain.

"Ikari-kun?" Riana said suddenly, and Shinji nearly threw his bento off the roof.

" _H-Hai?"_

"What's it like pilot Evangelion?"

"Sorry?"

"What's it…" Riana quickly pulled out her pocket Japanese-English dictionary. She flipped through it to a well-worn page, nodded, and said, "What's it like piloting Evangelion?"

"Oh." Shinji was at a loss for words, which happened far too often. What he wanted to say was _It's horrible, it's the worst thing you can imagine, every time I get in the damned thing I just want to run away._ Yet he could not say that. "It's…it's not too bad," he lied. "Piloting…no, it's not too bad. Pretty easy, actually." Shinji swallowed, because Riana was leaning forward, her blue eyes fixated on his lips, following his words. His mouth went dry. "The…the fighting's scary, but NERV is good about backing us up." _Unless it's my father,_ he almost added, but caught himself in time.

"I good at fighting," she said, and Shinji did not attempt to correct her Japanese.

"Well, there you go. You'll get the hang of it," he said. "If I can do it, anybody can, _neh?"_

" _Hai,_ but you really good." Riana sighed and went back to her lunch, and did not notice the thunderstruck look on Shinji's face. _I'm really good?_ He looked at his feet, and noticed out of the corner of one eye that Riana's legs were shaking. They were not bad legs, either. "You're shaking."

"Mmf?" Riana finished eating the peppered beef.

"You're shaking," Shinji repeated. "Are you scared?" He remembered she was piloting her Eva for the first time today.

" _Iye_!" Riana grinned at him. "Maybe a little? Excited. Can't wait."

"You… _want_ to pilot?"

" _Hai._ " She finished her lunch. Shinji had already noticed that Riana did not linger over food, but devoured it as if someone was going to take it away from her. He correctly guessed that it was due to the convent upbringing. Once she was finished, she leaned back, satisfied, and looked up at the cloudless sky " _Hai,"_ she said again. "Can't wait." She smiled at him and put a hand on his thigh; Shinji was able to resist the urge to bend the bento box in half. " _Domo arigato gozaimasu,_ Ikari-kun." She rose and stretched. "I don't know how to say 'back to the old grind' in Japanese yet, Ikari-kun," Riana said in English, "but it's almost time for class. Coming with?"

"Uhm, no," Shinji answered in Japanese. "I'll stay up here for a few more minutes."

"Okay. Thanks again for the company."

"Sure." She left, and Shinji figured it was safe to stand up—or would be in a minute or two.


	14. Land of Confusion

_AUTHOR'S NOTES: I couldn't resist a call-out to_ Martian Successor Nadesico _and_ Evangelion ReDeath _in this chapter. It's a longish chapter as well...couldn't find a good stopping point._

"Looks like _you're_ ready to go," Misato grinned at Riana. They were back in the Eva holding bay, in front of EVA-03A. Riana noticed they came in from a different direction this time, and were at the opposite end of the cavernous bay from the other Evas. That was just as well; she did not want any nausea or butterflies in her stomach—at least not from EVA-01. There were plenty of butterflies otherwise, but they were the good kind. "Yes, ma'am!" Riana replied happily. She was shifting from foot to foot, hardly able to contain herself. The plugsuit felt much more comfortable today.

"At least you're enthusiastic," Misato said. "You should've seen what it took to get Shinji in one of these." She led Riana to a tiny elevator, which took them to above the mecha.

"Where's the hatch?" EVA-03A's head did not seen to have any openings that she could see, but she guessed that it was perhaps flush with the armored skin; the Evas were certainly fully sealed, able to operate in all environments, including underwater and in radiated zones. The scarred Earth had plenty of both.

"You'll see. This isn't Gekiganger. You don't just climb in, fire her up, and go. There's procedures," Misato told her. The platform stopped in front of a white tube gripped in a heavy industrial vise, marked with various red and yellow warning stripes. Both end had vents and were threaded, like a screw. Riana jumped when a hatch hissed open. Misato opened it in and then out. "Well, here you go. Hop in."

"In there?" Riana peered into the tube.

"Yep. That's the cockpit." Riana stuck her head inside. There was a seat of some kind, and control sticks, but this was not what she expected. "You gonna stand there all day or are you gonna pilot?" Misato asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Gingerly, Riana stepped into the tube. The confines were a little tight, but she was finally able to climb into the seat. To her surprise, it was comfortable. It inclined backwards slightly, like a fighter plane's seat, she guessed to counteract G-forces—though why an Eva would have to worry about G-force was beyond her. Misato reached in and gently pulled back Riana's hair. Carefully, she placed two oval-shaped barrettes in them: Riana recognized them as identical to Asuka's, but they were the same shade of gray as her plugsuit. "Link interfaces," Misato explained. "Do they hurt?"

"No, they're okay."

"Asuka likes to wear them all the time, but she's the only one." Misato patted her shoulder. "Well, good luck, Riana-san."

" _Domo arigato,_ Misato-san."

Misato winked and closed the hatch. There was a hiss again and Riana's ears popped as the tube pressurized. She wriggled in the seat, trying to get comfortable, and was surprised to find there were no straps. The seat did fit snugly, but it seemed odd.

On either side of the seat were control sticks, with various knobs and buttons. She fitted her hands around them, and saw that her fingers each found on a button, while her feet rested on pedals—again, just like an aircraft. An instrument panel, dark at the moment, jutted forward nearly to her waist. There was no glass or anything in front of her, just a blank space.

"Riana? Can you hear me?" It was Ritsuko Akagi. Just like Misato, she spoke in English. It seemed to come from within the tube itself, as if the doctor was standing next to her.

" _Hai,_ Akagi-sama."

"Excellent. Are you ready?"

"Absolutely!"

"Stand by for insertion." Ritsuko's voice was cool and professional.

Riana felt the tube being picked up and moved by the mechanical vise, and gravity told her that she was now facing down and slightly to the right. The tube twisted back to an upright position until there was a distinct _thunk_ of contact. It then slid forward until it stopped with another thunk, with more noise from behind. There was a spate of rapid-fire Japanese from voices she did not recognize. "Recalibrate for English," Ritsuko ordered.

"Entry plug secure," said a voice that sounded like Maya Ibuki's. "Plug lock-in procedure completed."

"A lot better than the cardboard applicators," Riana quipped.

"Excuse me?" Ritsuko asked.

"Nothing. Sorry."

"Initiating first level interface," Maya said. Riana felt a curious buzzing in her head, but it passed. _That wasn't so bad,_ she mused, and then two ports irised open below her feet. "Flooding entry plug." Two jets of orange fluid blasted into the plug. That was unsettling enough, but the liquid was rising. It looked identical to what the Evas were bathed in. "Um…" Riana began.

"Relax, Riana," Misato's voice said, "it's just LCL."

"Easy for you to say!" It looked like half-jellified orange juice, and it lapped over her feet and legs. She tried to resist the urge to rise out of the seat. "Isn't there some sort of oxygen mask or something?"

"No, you'll breathe through the LCL—don't hold your breath!" Ritsuko ordered, but it was impossible not to as it went over her head. Reflexively, Riana closed her eyes as it rose over her head. To her surprise, she could still hear Ritsuko telling her to relax, open her mouth, and let her lungs fill. _Like hell I will!_ Riana thought in panic. It was made worse by the fact that there was nowhere to run. They could eject the plug, and she would still drown before they could get her out. The plug was full now. Sparkles began to appear behind her closed eyes and her lungs felt like they would explode. It was now in her nose, and choking as it poured into her throat, Riana opened her mouth. The moment she did, the LCL flooded in. Riana thrashed around and knew she was dying, unable to even choke or scream…then involuntarily, stopped struggling, as if her body had decided that it was going to die and might as well do it peacefully.

And then she took one breath. And another. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest, but she was not drowning. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. To her surprise, she could see clearly, though everything was tinted amber.

"Riana? Riana, come in!" Misato's voice was shrill.

"Y…yeah. I-I'm here." Riana could hear herself talk, but it was muffled, like she was underwater. "What…why am I still alive? And why can I talk?"

"LCL is like amniotic fluid," Ritsuko explained. "You breathed something similar for nine months inside your mother's womb. It's very rich in oxygen. It will allow you to breathe even in the most harsh of environments. The LCL also will protect you from being smashed around inside the plug if your Eva falls. As for your voice, it's vibrating the molecules of the LCL. Like water, it transmits sound to a certain extent better than air. We can hear you fine." Ritsuko paused. "I apologize, Riana. We should have warned you about that."

 _You're damn right you should have!_ Riana thought darkly. "I take it that was the new girl initiation."

Ritsuko chuckled. "You might say that. Are you all right now?"

Strangely enough, she was. " _Hai."_

"Give us a moment to recalibrate," Ritsuko said. "Your panic attack threw off the circuits for a moment." After a minute or two, Maya's voice came back on line. "A10 neural synapses operating within normal limits. First contact all clear. Opening reciprocal circuits."

Suddenly the plug lit up in a riot of colors. Worlds scrolled around the interior, first in kanji, and then in English. It was some sort of checklist, but the words appeared and disappeared quicker than she could follow. Abruptly the words cleared, as did the blank wall, and she was presented with a near 360-degree view of the outside, as if she was standing on the mecha's head. "Visual sensors enabled," Maya said. "Can you see, Pilot Arashikaze?"

 _Pilot Arashikaze. I like the sound of that._ "All clear, Ibuki-sama."

"Launch sequence complete. Major Katsuragi, Doctor Akagi, your orders?"

"Evangelion Unit 03A, prepare to launch," Misato intoned.

Riana grabbed the control sticks. "What do I do?"

"For now, do nothing. You're being transported to the launch elevator," Misato replied. Maya read off a flurry of orders in a bored voice, and EVA-03A moved forward on tracks as the catwalk was retracted. The mecha rotated through 90 degrees so that the Eva's back was to a wall. There was a thud of bolts. "Clear gate seven," Maya said. "Launch path clear. Preparations complete."

"Lean your head back and relax," Ritsuko ordered, and Riana did her best.

"Launch Eva!" Misato shouted, and that was all the warning Riana got. Suddenly she was pressed downwards in the seat as EVA-03A shot upwards on the launch rails. She could feel the cushion the LCL provided, and was glad for it. The ride was nearly over as soon as it started, and she was thrown forward a little as the Eva shuddered to a stop. The launch tube walls had disappeared, and she found herself standing on the forested floor of the Geofront.

"Still with us, Riana?" Misato asked.

"You bet." _That was kind of fun,_ she laughed to herself.

Ritsuko's voice returned. "I'm sure you're beginning to wonder how you pilot the Eva."

"The thought _had_ occurred to me, yes."

"All right. First of all, your Eva differs in many details from the others. The biggest difference is that Unit 03A does not rely on an outside power source." Riana remembered the huge power cable that stretched from the back of EVA-01 during the fight with Sachiel. "This is both advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is that you are independent; there is no cable that can be severed in combat. The disadvantage is that EVA-03A is powered by an experimental fusion engine. It's a prototype we're working on for eventual installation in all the Evas."

"Experimental?" Riana could not stop her voice rising. "Uh, what about radiation—"

"No radiation," Ritsuko assured her, with the voice of a professor lecturing a rather dim student. "You'll incur less rads sitting there than you would sunbathing. While there is a slight chance the engine could explode—"

" _Explode?"_

"—it is a fusion engine, not fission," Ritsuko finished. "We're not that desperate. The nuclear reaction is held in place by magnetic fields. It would ruin the Eva, yes, but we would have ejected you long before that. There is nothing to worry about."

In Central Dogma, Ritsuko nodded to Makato Hyuga, who crossed his fingers and typed commands into the Magi computer, which in turn transmitted them to EVA-03A. All watched the monitors with a little concern, because they knew what Ritsuko had not told Riana: the fusion engine had been extensively tested—in computer simulation. This was the first time it had been actually field tested. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the power status showed all green.

"How's she running, Riana?" Misato leaned forward to read the monitor.

"I guess it's okay," came the reply.

"You guess?"

"Yeah," Riana replied, and now she was the one who sounded annoyed. "As my instrument panel is off, this fuc—this thing could be about to go supernova for all I know."

In the Eva, the instrument panel came to life, growing green in the amber-tinted LCL. It showed three multifunction displays, surrounded by a few buttons, arranged in a triangle. Ritsuko ran through them: the apex display was for navigation, and projected a map. The other two acted as status monitors: one for the Eva's current condition, which showed as an outline of 03A; the other for weapons options, which was blank as the Eva was currently unarmed. That made sense to Riana; she would not have wanted a rookie pilot running around with giant guns either.

"Now let's go over moving around," Ritsuko said. "Again, this is different than the other Evas. In those, most functions are thought-controlled. The pilot simply images walking, and the Eva does it. The same goes for moving the arms. While there are control columns in the other Evas, they are primarily for physical foci and backup for the pilot. In 03A, however, you actually have to move things around. The controls actually move the arms and hands. Go ahead, give it a try."

"Oookay…" Riana did so, pushing the sticks forward. The Eva's arms rose jerkily, but they moved. She experimented a little and swung the arms from side to side. The waist moved to adjust for the shift in weight. Riana found that if she swung the sticks to one side simutaneously, the Eva rotated around until it hit stops set into the waist ring. "Guess I can't turn around completely."

"It wasn't deemed necessary."

 _Better not let anything get behind me._ That made her think of something. "Not that I'll ever need it, of course," Riana said with a nervous giggle, "but, uh…what if I need to eject the plug myself?"

"There are two yellow handles on either side of the seat. Major Katsuragi calls them chicken switches." Ritsuko's tone of voice indicated she was less than impressed with Misato's humor. "Pull them upwards, and make sure you're sitting upright with your head fully back in the headrest. It will eject the plug forty meters behind your Eva, and though the LCL will cushion you somewhat, it will be a rather bumpy ride…and landing."

"What happens if I'm not sitting upright?"

"You'll probably either snap your spine or neck," Ritsuko said.

"Good to know." Riana wondered how her palms could feel sweaty inside the plugsuit.

"You'll notice that each of your fingers rests on a button. That moves the Eva's fingers." Riana dutifully played with the buttons, and watched the mecha wiggle its fingers. "It's based on the Hands On Throttle And Stick HOTAS system in modern fighter aircraft. You'll also notice there are triggers. Press them," Ritsuko told her. Instantly, the Eva's fingers curled as if it was holding a weapon and pulling a trigger. "The weapon system relies on your eyes. Whichever way you move your head, the Eva will move its head. You've been turning it without noticing. Whatever you look at, the weapons system will target. A crosshair will be projected on your viewscreen, and will switch from green to red when a lock-on is achieved."

"So how do I walk?" Riana asked.

"Push down on your pedals. Each one moves one leg. Pushing down on both will cause the Eva to walk forward. Rocking back on them will move you backward. Moving them independently will turn you left or right. If you want to crouch, tap your toes. If you need to stop suddenly, just take your feet off the pedals. If you need to run, stomp both pedals down."

"I'm going to be slower than the other Evas," Riana sighed.

"Yes, you will," Ritsuko agreed. "Remember that this is a trainer. The other Evas are much easier to pilot—but first you must prove you can pilot this one."

"Right. I'm not a Jedi yet." Riana pushed down on the pedals. _Let's see what I can do._

The Eva moved forward hesitantly, and she pushed down a fraction more. Now it began to walk, though it swayed drunkenly, and Riana braced herself. EVA-03A stopped. "Don't worry about overbalancing," Ritsuko said. "Your neural interfaces also transmit your own sense of balance to the Eva."

Riana nodded (which caused the Eva to do the same), and tried to walk forward again. With increased confidence, she aimed towards the pyramid. With a mischevious thought, she slammed both pedals to the floor. 03A responded instantly, going from its slow walk to a full-out run.

"Riana, you might want to slow down—" Misato warned.

It was too late. There was a two-meter wide depression in the Geofront. EVA-03A hit the ditch at full speed and the right foot dug in. The Eva's legs went out from under it, and with blistering curses, Riana rode the Eva down as it crashed to the earth. The LCL kept her from being slammed into the instrument panel, and she was more surprised than hurt.

Riana had covered her eyes reflexively, and then she peeked out at the instrument panel. Everything still showed green lights, so the engine was not heading for an imminent meltdown, nor was anything apparently broken in the Eva. "Uh…" she stammered. "I think everything's okay."

"Yes, we can see that," Ritsuko came back, her voice laced with irony. "Very well, Riana, let's see if you can get up."

"Yes, ma'am." Riana gripped the control sticks and managed to get the arms tucked under the Eva, then splayed its hands. She was able to push the Eva off its stomach and into a crouch. She gave the foot pedals a slight tap, and 03A tucked its knees forward in a crouch. "Not too bad," she remarked, and tapped the pedals again. The legs went back to their former position. Two more taps made 03A look like it was doing wind sprints. "Uh…hmm."

"What are you doing?" Ritsuko sounded very annoyed now.

"I…" Riana sighed again. There was nothing for it. "I think…I'm stuck."

* * *

Ritsuko had thought ahead and there were cranes standing by. Half an hour later, EVA-03A was back on its feet, and a chagrined Riana got it back to the holding bays and parked it without further incident. The cockpit plug was pulled from the Eva, drained of LCL, and placed back on the boarding platform. Misato waited, and tried to look stern but failed miserably. She wanted to laugh as Riana stepped out of the plug, her face a shade of pale green. The sight of EVA-03A with its rear end in the area was so comical that even the normally professional bridge crew could not suppress a snicker or two. Ritsuko had snapped at them to be quiet; she was not at all amused. Still, Misato thought, Riana had done all right: even Shinji, who Misato privately believed would be the best of all the pilots, had done plenty wrong his first time out, and the stakes were much higher then.

Misato smiled. "Hi, kiddo," she said brightly. "Hey, don't worry about falling over. It was your first time—"

Riana tried to reply, but the moment she opened her mouth—which she had kept tightly shut—her lips contorted and she threw up a disgusting mixture of LCL and Riana's lunch squarely on Misato's blouse. Misato screamed and stepped back, only to have Riana's second retching gag hit her shoes. "I'm—I'm so sorry, Misato—" Riana managed to struggle out before her stomach continued to empty itself. She fell to her knees, shuddering and sweating.

Misato just managed the urge to snap Riana's neck. The blouse and shoes were both brand new. "That's…all right," Misato said between clenched teeth. "Hit the showers."

Riana nodded, not trusting her voice, got to shaky feet and made her way to the locker room. There, she peeled off the plugsuit, clammy with her sweat, and entered the shower. She turned the spray on full blast, and hoped the water would wash away both the now-dried LCL and her own shame.

* * *

 _You would think Gendo would occasionally turn on the lights in here,_ Ritsuko thought to herself as she and Misato entered the Commander's office. As usual, it was dark except for the rather hellish red lighting. They both stopped in front of Gendo's desk. He was sitting in his usual pose, hands steepled in front of him. "Report," he hissed.

"EVA-03A, aside from minor surface damage, is still operational," Misato replied.

"As well armored as it is, I would expect so. What about Arashikaze?"

Misato hesitated, glanced at Ritsuko, and shrugged. "She seems okay."

"She threw up all over you," Gendo said; his expression did not change. Misato had changed clothes and cleaned her shoes, but the incident was all over NERV by now.

"Riana's not the first pilot to puke after they got out of the Eva," Misato said. "Riana wasn't told to purge in the plug." Another glance at Ritsuko. "She's green as grass, Commander. She's going to make a lot of mistakes."

Gendo raised an eyebrow. "Then you believe she should remain with the program?"

"Yes, Commander. I do."

"Explain."

"For one thing," Misato began, "she's got spirit. Aside from Asuka, we can't exactly say that about Shinji or Rei. They do their job, but they're hardly enthusiastic about it—"

"They're not supposed to be," Gendo interrupted.

"Yes, sir, but it's kind of refreshing."

"Interesting analysis," Gendo said. "Continue."

"For another thing, EVA-03A just isn't designed like the others. Riana's going to have to actually slam that mecha around with her hands and feet. I'm impressed that she managed to do as much as she did for her first time. I think if she can keep it up and we can take our time training her, she'll do all right," Misato finished.

"Time is a luxury we don't have," Gendo snapped. "She must be better than all right."

Misato did not like to be around Gendo Ikari in the best of times, but it was clear he was in a sour mood. "Yes, Commander, but it would be nice to have four pilots instead of three. We both know the dummy plug system isn't perfected yet. And Shinji…" Misato hated to say anything negative about the younger Ikari in front of his father, but she continued "…Shinji can't be relied upon a hundred percent. And frankly, I'm a little worried about Asuka."

"Oh? Why?" Gendo asked. "She is arguably our best pilot."

"And she knows it," Misato replied. "That's the problem. Her overconfidence is going to get her into trouble."

Gendo's eyes flicked over to Ritsuko. "Dr. Akagi, you've been quiet. What is your opinion?"

"I think Riana Arashikaze should be sent home, back to the convent. Tomorrow."

Both of Gendo's eyebrows went up this time. "Why?" he repeated.

"Two reasons. The first is not her fault. EVA-03A, as Major Katsuragi says, simply is not designed for combat. Even with the fusion plant and its heavier armor, it would be at a severe disadvantage against an Angel. It can't generate an AT Field. The other Evas would have to cover it. Really, it's not much better than Jet Alone, just with better powerplant and weapons.

"The second _is_ Riana's fault. I agree with Misato that her enthusiasm is infectious, but her hand-eye coordination is merely adequate. With training, she could improve it…but she would have to be superhuman to really make EVA-03A perform to the level of the other Evas."

"So what?" Misato put in. "We'll be plugging her into EVA-04 before long anyway. 03A's just for training."

"Yes," Ritsuko argued, "and then we have to completely retrain her for _that."_ Ritsuko admitted to herself that it was a bit of an exaggeration, since the controls were not that much different, and Misato was correct that EVA-04 would be easier for Riana. Yet that was not was Ritsuko was trying to do. "The Commander is right. We don't have the time. We have other options in Class 2-A. Just the fact that she's still learning Japanese is an obstacle. I'm sorry for Riana, but she simply cannot become the pilot we need her to be in the time that we have. We should not be making decisions based on politics, or our personal likes. We should make them for our own survival."

Gendo was silent for a few moments, then nodded at the folder in Ritsuko's hands. "Is that the hard data?" Without waiting for him to ask, she handed over the folder. Gendo flipped through the readout. "Sync ratio is very low."

"That's because 03A doesn't sync like the other Evas. The data is somewhat misleading." Ritsuko hated to say it, but her pride as a scientist required the truth.

"Ah, of course." Gendo glanced through the reports for a moment, then looked at the two women. "Riana Arashikaze will stay with the project…for now. Today was the missteps of a new pilot. If she does not improve, she will be dismissed. Make sure you explain that fact to her, Major Katsuragi."

"Yes, Commander."

"Dismissed, Major. Doctor, please stay a moment." Misato shot Ritsuko an angry look, and left the room. Gendo stood and put his gloved hands behind his back. "I can see you don't agree with my decision, Doctor."

"What difference does it make if I do?" Ritsuko said bitterly. She gestured at the folder. "It flies in the face of all data and half the command staff's judgement, but you've never let that stop you before, so why should it now?"

Gendo half-smiled. "True." He opened the folder again and pointed to a chart. "Explain this."

Ritsuko only spared the chart a contemptuous glance, but then did a double-take. She had missed something. "That can be easily explained by EVA-03A's interface structure as compared to the other—"

"Please, Doctor. Save the technobabble for Lieutenant Ibuki." He tapped the chart. "When Arashikaze was panicking as the LCL was filled—something you _deliberately_ did not warn her about, because I suspect you are trying to discourage her—the chronometer in her Eva slowed by five seconds. I overheard Pilot Soryu mention earlier that she and the other children were almost late to class because all the clocks stopped in Major Katsuragi's apartment last night. When I spoke to the Major while Arashikaze was getting on her plugsuit, she mentioned that Arashikaze and Soryu had a confrontation last night as well, at around the same time. Don't you find that interesting, Doctor? An amazing set of coincidences, perhaps?" Ritsuko did not reply, and Gendo shut the folder. " _That_ is why she remains with the program."

"Will there be anything else?" Ritsuko's voice held a mixture of fatigue and disgust.

"One more thing," Gendo replied, enjoying the rage on the doctor's face. "Make sure that you somehow leak Riana's poor synch ratio to the other pilots. Especially Pilot Soryu."

Ritsuko was taken aback. "What on earth for? Asuka and Riana can barely stand each other. Asuka's likely to use that as a bludgeon against Riana. You might as well be lighting a fuse to a powder keg."

"Yes," Gendo said, and smiled. "I know."


	15. Smack My Bitch Up

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: To answer Max's question, no, Riana does not have a Stand. (I had to look that one up.) Also, I really hate abusing Asuka in this chapter. She really is my favorite Evangelion character, honest. I guess we always hurt the ones we love._

 _The Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _25 October 2015_

"Attack!" Misato Katsuragi ordered.

Instantly, Riana came out of her corner of the mats and ran straight at Shinji. Both of them carried pugil sticks, heavily padded staves. This sort of training was archaic, but NERV learned quickly that martial arts training for their pilots carried over into how they fought in the Evas. Both Rei and Asuka got a great deal of it, but Shinji knew little. The pugil sticks would substitute for the naginatas occasionally carried by the Evas.

It was evident that Riana was also skilled in martial arts. Misato watched as Riana raised her stick high for an overhead strike—and as soon as Shinji raised his to block, she snapped her staff down and to the right, and drove one padded end into his side. Shinji stumbled back, but Riana crowded him, shoved him back, and kept him on the defensive. Shinji actually could use his heavier weight to his advantage, and the fact that Riana was pressing her attacks too close, but Shinji was unnerved by her sudden attack, and the savage screaming she was doing in her face. A savage shoulder strike finally got through Shinji's frantic defense, and he went to the mat.

"Break it off!" Misato snapped. "Good work, Riana. Knock off the yelling, though."

Riana instantly stepped backward and rested the pugil stick on the mat. "Major, yelling in combat is as old as—"

"I know, but it's not going to work on the Angels, and I don't want my earphones blasted off in combat."

"Oh. _Sumimasen._ " She held out a hand for Shinji and helped him up.

"Shinji," Misato advised, "you are heavier than Riana. Use that to your advantage."

" _Hai,_ " he said miserably. Riana might be enjoying herself, but Shinji clearly was not.

Misato glanced over to where Rei sat, watching the bout. She was next up. Though Shinji and Rei did not need it, Misato had all three wearing their plugsuits; Riana needed to get as comfortable as the other two were in it. Asuka was not present, but she was in a synch test. Misato wanted her there, because Asuka could stand to benefit from fighting an opponent that was not computer generated. It might not be wise to have them spar, however. Asuka and Riana had gone from rivalry to serious dislike, and Misato wondered how long that deepened to poisonous hate.

Things were not getting any better in the confines of the apartment. First, Asuka had made a disparaging remark about Shinji's cooking. Riana rushed to his defense by saying at least Shinji did not always need a microwave, which was more than could be said about Asuka. Both statements were true—Shinji had one of his rare off nights in the kitchen, and Asuka's cooking left something to be desired. Asuka's unprintable retort in German was answered with something equally foul sounding in Latin from Riana, until the argument became who could curse the other more soundly in a foreign tongue. Asuka spoke more languages, but Riana had the edge in sheer disgusting inventiveness; Misato wrote a few down for future reference.

Second, at school, a discussion between Kensuke Aida and Riana over the finer points of _Megatokyo_ got a caustic comment from Asuka about "hopeless, dateless otaku." Riana told Asuka to mind her own business, and things went downhill until the teacher ordered them both into the hallway to hold buckets of water. Once out there, Asuka's school uniform dress had inexplicably fallen to her ankles, revealing to all what color underwear she had chosen to wear that day. Riana erupted in laughter, which led to Asuka dumping her bucket over the other girl's head. After they returned home, late from two hours' detention, Misato figured out that the dress' button was old and the string had simply fallen apart, but a logical explanation still did not help the situation.

Misato thought she knew the reasons why the two suddenly despised each other. In Riana, Asuka finally found a target for her frustrations that would fight back. Shinji would meekly take whatever Asuka dished out, and Rei simply refused to acknowledge anything Asuka said beyond what was necessary. Riana, on the other hand, was all too ready to snap back. Misato amused herself with the thought that the two might be unconsciously fighting over Shinji, but that was not likely. _All this within a week,_ Misato sighed.

At least Riana's training in EVA-03A was going well. She still had a tendency to overcorrect with the controls, and tended to launch herself at an objective, with no thought to defense; Riana evidently belonged to the Scream and Leap School of Combat. She showed surprising skill in melee combat with her Eva, and after watching her in the dojo, Misato could see why. Riana's ranged combat skills still needed a great deal of work, however. In practice, Riana indeed did dispatch her computer-simulated Angel foes—after using a battalion's worth of ammunition. In a real engagement, assuming the Angel was patient enough to allow Riana to reload, she would have done more damage to Tokyo-3 than her target.

"Okay, Shinji," Misato said, "this time you're on the attack. Go get her." Shinji obeyed with no great enthusiasm, and Riana let him cross the mat and attack her. She blocked his shots without much effort.

Misato's phone rang and she withdrew it from her pocket. "Misato."

"Ritsuko here. How's it going?"

"Riana's pretty damn good. Shinji's no Bruce Lee, but she's been sending him to the mat." Misato winced as Riana swept Shinji's feet out from under him. "Pretty much every time."

"That is not surprising," Ritsuko replied. "Her grandmother is an acknowledged mistress of the blade and Riana has been sparring with her since Riana was seven. The Order of St. Joan is known for teaching their nuns how to use melee weapons as well."

"So?" Misato felt the need to come to Riana's defense. The entire week, Ritsuko found fault in everything Riana did. "Just admit that she's good at something, Rits."

"Until Riana's Eva can generate an AT-field, this training is a farce, Misato. Until we can figure out how to overcome _that_ little obstacle, we are wasting time with her. She needs to go home." Misato was shocked at the venom in Ritsuko's voice. Riana was no prodigy, but she tried hard and took criticism well. Misato was confident that, given another month or so, EVA-04 would be finished and the transition would be done easily. Ritsuko was not, and had taken to criticizing Riana in public, which was not her usual method. Something was needling her friend, and Misato resolved on the spot to find out what it was.

Riana was helping Shinji once more to his feet. "Okay, you two," Misato said with false cheer, "that's it for today. Hit the showers."

"Aww," Riana smiled. "I was having fun."

"I think you've done enough to poor Shinji-kun for the day," Misato told her. Though Riana's Japanese was slowly improving, they stuck to English. "We'll send you up against Rei tomorrow." Rei nodded silently, and Misato thought that the match would be fun to watch: Riana might intimidate Shinji, but she was not about to do it to Rei. _How do you intimidate a petite, blue-haired Vulcan?_

She followed them out into the hallway. Riana was demonstrating moves with her hands. "That's how I knocked you down that last time," she was explaining. "You left yourself open— _wakarimasu ka?_ Do you understand?"

"I think so," Shinji replied, in English. Riana was good to practice that with as well. "Makes sense."

" _Hai,"_ Riana switched back to Japanese, and Misato smothered a smile; this was fun to watch. "Mom used to do to me all time—all _the_ time," Riana corrected herself. "It tough, but you defend—you can defend it. Spin your staff like this, understand?"

" _Hai."_

Their conversation was interrupted by the sight of Asuka waiting at the girls' locker room door. Asuka was also still in her plugsuit. Riana's good mood instantly soured. "What do _you_ want?"

"Oh, nothing," Asuka replied cheerfully in English, which told Riana that it was something, and something she was not going to like. "Dr. Akagi wanted me to show these to you." She held up some readouts.

"Those are synch rates," Misato said.

"They are indeed. See, here's mine—" Asuka pointed to the highest mark. "And here's Wondergirl's." Rei's was a bare quarter-degree below Asuka's. Rei herself merely looked bored. "And here's Shinji's." It was further down the chart, though well above the norm. "And here's yours." Asuka tapped a line near the bottom of the chart.

Riana shrugged. "Okay, fine. My Eva isn't as good as the others. Duh, it's a trainer. When I get my own Eva—"

"'When I get my own Eva,'" Asuka repeated in a singsong voice. "You sound like you're saying, 'When I grow up—"

"—I'll be twice as mature as you," Riana interrupted. "Do you have a point to all this, Asuka? Or are you just showing me that to compensate for something, Flaty McFlatchest?" Riana had discovered that comparing them in development was a berserk button for Asuka.

Asuka pushed off from the wall and shoved the readouts in Riana's face. "My point is, Sister Riana, is that you _suck!"_

Riana pushed the readouts aside. "Well, I'm sorry, Asuka—I don't have your experience in _swallowing."_

The readouts were thrown to the floor. " _Mein Gott,_ you stupid cow! Do I have to explain to you what everyone here thinks? You don't belong here! I said that on the first damn night! You're never going to be as good as me, or Rei, or even Baka Shinji! Even Dr. Akagi says that you're not worth a shit. Are you just that stupid not to see what's going on?" She cut off Riana's retort with a wave of the hand. "Of course you're that stupid. While you're having fun in that toy Eva of yours, we're actually training for the real thing. You're just here because NERV has to kiss Yankee ass."

Riana smirked. "It must really bunch your panties that Hitler lost."

"Shut up!" Asuka shouted.

Riana suddenly poked Asuka in the chest. "No, _you_ shut up, Asuka! I don't know what crawled up your ass when I got here, but I'm not trying to be as good as you. I'm trying to be the best I can. I'm not in a competition with you—are _you_ that stupid not to see that?"

"Get that damn finger out of my face before I break it off, bitch!"

Riana's face was red, but she slowly turned to Shinji, who deduced accurately that it was best to remain small and out of the way. Even Rei was hanging back, as close to shocked as Misato had ever seen her. "Ikari-kun, I'm sorry you had see this," she said in Japanese, and then tried to brush past Asuka. "I'm hitting the showers. You can find another vehicle for your fucking ego trip, Asuka."

"You're going to die, Riana," Asuka said evenly. "Just like your father."

Riana stopped and turned to face her. "What did you say?" Her voice was quiet, barely controlled.

"Asuka, that's enough!" Misato yelled.

Asuka ignored her, and looked at Shinji instead. "See, Shinji, Riana's dad got killed during Second Impact. They were in Seattle, after the tsunami hit. He ran into a building to get people out, and it collapsed on him. He took on something too big for him. Guess it runs in the family, huh?" Shinji did not reply. Instead he took three steps back.

Riana let out a strangled scream of pure rage, grabbed Asuka by the shoulder, and spun the other girl around to smash a fist into her face. The swing was wild and lost most of its momentum, but Asuka still stumbled backward, more in surprise than pain. Riana did not give her a chance to recover, but tackled her to the floor, seized two handfuls of Asuka's hair, and began bashing her head into the linoleum.

Asuka reached up and slammed Riana's head into the wall. Riana lessened her grip, enough for Asuka to roll over and throw Riana to one side. She got to her feet and tackled Riana into the other wall, but Riana got her feet up and kicked her away. Asuka somersaulted flawlessly and landed on her feet.

"Stop it!" Shinji yelled, but both girls were beyond caring. Misato knew this was too much for just her, and called security.

Riana motioned Asuka forward. "You want a piece? Come and get it, you fucking kraut!"

"Gladly!" Asuka snapped her left fist at Riana's chin. It was a clumsy attack, but Asuka was deliberately clumsy: it was a feint, a setup for her second attack, a high kick. Riana was no novice, and avoided the punch, twisted away from the kick, and caught Asuka's leg. She shoved her back, which caused Asuka to stumble. Riana leapt forward, grabbed Asuka's wrist to keep her upright, and delivered a solid blow to the other girl's side that, had it not been for the plugsuit, would have broken ribs.

Asuka was no novice herself. She dodged Riana's next punch and brought her foot down on the American's, which trapped her. She swept her knuckles across Riana's nose, enough to send blood over the tiled floor. The slick material of the plugsuit caused Riana to slip out from under Asuka's foot, but only to fall down. Asuka hit her again, this time on the side of the head. Her side felt it was on fire, but Asuka could not resist a taunt. "You trying to wear out my knuckles with your face?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Riana screamed. She shook her head free of stars, hooked her legs under Asuka's, and tripped her. Now both were on the ground, but Asuka was on top. Her hands shoved Riana's shoulders down. "Stay down!"

Riana's reply was a snarl and bared teeth, and then the fists came—one to Asuka's chin and another to her side, then two more to her midsection. Stunned, Asuka fell backwards, and Riana was already on her feet, in a blur so fast that Asuka was still registering the first punch.

Misato grabbed Riana at that point, as security arrived to help. Asuka recovered, and it took four of the security people to keep her from attacking Riana—and it took two more to keep Riana from renewing her attack.

"What should we do, Major?" one of the security men asked.

"Take them to the infirmary," she said. Riana finally realized the fight was over and slumped in the security men's arms. Asuka flung hers aside. "Asuka, you need help—"

"Not from you!" Asuka shrugged off a last attempt to stop her, spit blood from a split lip, and limped defiantly on her own towards the infirmary. Misato told the security men to take Riana as well, then slumped against the wall. It happened so fast. She could hear Gendo being paged. "Oh, God," she groaned. "What did I do to deserve this?"


	16. Mercy in Darkness

Ritsuko Akagi looked at her two charges and sighed heavily. Both Riana and Asuka were in hospital gowns, the plugsuits stripped off so Ritsuko could check over their wounds—on opposite sides of the infirmary. Neither girl was seriously hurt: both were going to be nursing bruises on their sides and legs for some days; Asuka's lip was neatly bisected by a cut and Riana's nose was swollen. No permanent damage was done. Of course, if they had not been wearing the impact-resistant plugsuits, the damage would have been far worse. If Misato was right, the two were out to kill by the end of the fight, Riana especially.

Ritsuko pondered the situation as the nurses dressed the girls' wounds. It was one thing for Asuka to belittle the other pilots—though Ritsuko personally disapproved, since it tended to shatter Shinji's already fragile self-confidence. This time there had been an actual fight, actual physical strikes. NERV could not afford this level of infighting. Someone was going to have to go, and it was not going to be Asuka.

Ritsuko supposed she should be thankful for the fact that Riana Arashikaze's days at NERV were over. It was something she had hoped would happen, before Riana got herself killed, or someone else killed, in pursuit of a false dream. It would also prevent seeing someone she had grown to like be corrupted by Gendo Ikari. Gendo had wanted to provoke a fight, and Ritsuko obliged when the opportunity presented itself. When the batch of synch ratio reports were printed, Asuka was right there, and Ritsuko had handed her the printouts with orders to show them to Shinji, Rei, and Riana. Ritsuko had agreed to Gendo's plan, not just to save the girl's life, but to save her soul. So Riana would go, and that would be the end of it.

Yet one thing nagged at Ritsuko's thoughts: Gendo had _wanted_ this fight. She guessed why: Gendo was hoping stress would cause Riana's supposed magic to manifest itself. The fact that such a manifestation might have cost the life of Asuka Langley-Soryu either never occurred to Gendo—which meant he overestimated how much Riana would be able to control these powers—or Asuka was considered merely collateral damage. _And if he's willing to sacrifice Asuka,_ Ritsuko asked herself, _who_ else _is he willing to sacrifice?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the man himself, with Misato in tow.

Gendo walked straight to Ritsuko, his expression blank. "Their condition?" he asked without preamble.

Ritsuko tapped two medical charts. "Nothing permanent. Nothing aspirin and bed rest won't take care of."

Gendo nodded. "Bring them here."

"They're not dressed yet—"

"I did not ask your opinion, Doctor. Bring them here."

She did as ordered. Both girls' faces were red from anger and punches, but now they were red with humilation. Not only were they standing in front of the Commander, guilty of an offense, but they were forced to do so wearing nothing but open-backed hospital gowns. Gendo stared at them for a long moment, then pushed his glasses slowly up his nose. "Are you embarrassed?" he asked. "You should be. And it is quite appropriate that you are standing there almost naked, because infants come into this world naked, and infants are _exactly_ what you two have been acting as of late. It does not matter who started this fight, because you are held equally responsible."

His finger stabbed at Asuka. "Pilot Soryu, you were instructed to deliver the synch rate results to the other pilots and Miss Arashikaze— _not_ offer your own commentary on them. You are not superior to the others, and you are definitely not superior to Dr. Akagi, Major Katsuragi, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, and most definitely not myself. Do you understand?"

Gendo's words were in Japanese, and Asuka answered in the same language. " _Hai. Wakarimasen."_

"We shall see. Failure to understand will mean revocation of pilot status." Ritsuko saw Asuka go pale: that was the one chink in the German girl's armor. Without Evangelion, Asuka considered herself dead, without purpose. "Dismissed, Pilot Soryu. Major, take her to the dressing room—give her a robe first."

* * *

With Asuka gone, Gendo turned to a trembling Riana. She had understood enough to know what was going on, but now he switched to English. He had referred to her as Miss Arashikaze, not Pilot Arashikaze, which did not bode well. Still, Riana reasoned sadly, if she was going in front of the firing squad, she would do so with grace. "Commander, I threw the first punch—"

"Didn't I say I wasn't concerned with who started the fight?"

"Yes, sir, but you also said I was equally responsible—"

"You are. You have forced me to reevaluate your position here, Miss Arashikaze. Until now, I have overlooked your numerous drawbacks because I believed you had potential. Now I believe you should be dropped from Evangelion immediately." Behind Riana, Ritsuko smothered a gasp. She knew Gendo Ikari well enough to know when he was lying, and he was lying now.

Riana fought back her tears, and tried to stand with as much dignity as she could with her backside open to the air. She never felt so terribly alone. "I understand, sir. I will need to contact my grandmother and arrange transportation home."

"Is that what you want?" Gendo asked, almost gently.

Riana's eyes widened in surprise. "You just said you're dropping me from the program!"

"You did not let me finish. I believe you should be dropped from Evangelion immediately…unless…" Gendo let the word hang in the air for a moment. "I am somewhat familiar with the inner workings of the Convent of St. Joan. The Mother Superior works on the demerit system for her novice nuns, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir. I wasn't on that system because I wasn't training to be a nun."

"What is the upper limit of demerits before dismissal?"

"Fifty."

"Then consider yourself to have 49 demerits," Gendo said. He held up a gloved finger. " _One_ infraction of the rules—even something so minor as the little incident in the lunch room last week—would result in your immediate dismissal. As it is, I am revoking your pilot status until you show sufficient maturity. You will be living on a sword's edge, Miss Arashikaze. Can you accept that?"

"Yes, sir!" Riana's answer was immediate.

Gendo gave no indication of approval. "You will be moved out of Major Katsuragi's apartment immediately to one of your own. I have already arranged a location, though you will stay here at NERV tonight. Mr. Kaji will show you to your temporary quarters. I will have Major Katsuragi bring your things later. Doctor, if you could provide her with a robe, she can return to the locker room and pick up her clothes…Miss Arashikaze, if Pilot Soryu is still there, you will not communicate with her, understand? You two will have no contact beyond that of normal operations. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" Riana repeated, quickly snatched up a robe, and was out of the infirmary before it was fully cinched shut—or before Gendo could change his mind. That left Gendo alone with Ritsuko; the two nurses sensed this, and found other places to be.

* * *

"You didn't dismiss her," Ritsuko said, surprise in her voice.

Gendo once more pushed the glasses back into place. "My words were not idle threats, Doctor. One more mistake, and Riana Arashikaze is indeed out the door, so to speak." He smiled thinly. "You're wondering why, Ritsuko. The reason is simple: let's see just how far Riana's desire goes, shall we? Let's see how bad she truly wants this." He turned his back on her and left. "I will be in my office, if you wish to…discuss things further," he said over his shoulder. The invitation was there, open if she wanted it.

Ritsuko's fists clenched in fury. There was a syringe on the table next to her, a big one. _I could kill him,_ she thought. _I could plunge this needle into his neck. I could poison him in his office. I could even just shoot him—there's a pistol in my desk drawer, and one in his. Then I could kill myself to purge this shame from me._

Then she remembered the body of her mother, lying shattered atop the Magi computers she had built. Ritsuko slowly unclenched her hands. She did not kill Gendo Ikari. But neither did she follow him.

* * *

Gendo Ikari sat alone in his office. He waited a few minutes, but Ritsuko did not come after him. He was not surprised. He felt pleased with himself, then suppressed that feeling. Yui would have found it abhorrent.

He knew what Ritsuko was thinking; the doctor was not as clever as she thought she was at hiding her feelings. He _was_ manipulating Riana Arashikaze, as a terrorist might manipulate a hostage. Just as small favors are magnified by a hostage to acts of genuine kindness by the terrorist, Gendo sparing Riana from dismissal—when he had never intended to do—would be seen by the girl as a great favor. Riana would now throw herself into becoming the perfect pilot, to please him, and bind herself ever closer to NERV.

Of course, there was the possibility that Riana's powers would not be as powerful as he hoped. That she would develop them at all was no longer an issue. He called up the security camera footage from the hallway on his computer for the second time that day. The last three punches were thrown by Riana so fast the camera could not follow them. That had been a risk: had Misato and the security team not finally intervened, Asuka would have likely been badly injured or even killed. Still, it had not come to that—which would have meant Riana's dismissal, powers or no—and a little humiliation to Asuka Langley-Soryu was not a bad thing. Occasionally, she needed her leash pulled, to remind Asuka that she served at Gendo's whim, not the other way around.

Gendo supposed Yui would have disapproved of the manipulation of two teenage girls, just as she would have disapproved of his manipulation of Shinji. The end result, however—that she would understand. Hopefully, so would Shinji himself.

Still, Gendo told himself as he shut off his computer, he too was on a sword edge. He leaned back in his chair, and thought about the various players in the game. Rissa Arashikaze had been kind enough to eliminate the old men of SEELE from the board. Ryoji Kaji's investigation into the Marduk Institute could be allowed to continue; eventually, he would learn that the Institute never existed. He would report that to the Japanese government, whom Gendo was quite sure Kaji actually worked for. Nonetheless, he was usefully distracted at the moment, and his presence also distracted Misato Katsuragi, who possessed her own inquisitive nature and tended to ask too many questions. Ritsuko Akagi both loved and hated him, just as her mother had, and was equally as unstable. Gendo could, at least, trust Kozo Fuyutsuki, but the old professor still had a conscience, which could prove troublesome.

That meant Gendo Ikari was on his own, something he had been for most of his life.

And then there was the final player, the newest one: Rissa Arashikaze. He was thankful to her, immensely thankful, that she had rid both the world and Gendo of the old men of SEELE. However, it replaced one menace with another. SEELE, at least, shared Gendo's end goal, if for different reasons. He was quite sure Rissa did not, and she had at her beck and call some of the most dangerous soldiers on earth—men and women she had commanded since before Second Impact, if the rumors were true. One phone call, and Rissa would be able to form a frighteningly effective group of special forces. If Rissa suspected Gendo of doing what he was doing, she would stop only long enough to pick up her sword and make that phone call. Her next stop would be Gendo's office, and he doubted NERV's security could stop her. He had seen pictures of what was left of the old men of SEELE. Apparently, Rissa enjoyed using a blade for her kills. Again, if his suspicions were correct as to her true identity, he was not surprised.

That was to be worried about later. There were more pressing issues at hand. Gendo swung around in his chair and looked out over Central Dogma, then up at the Tree etched into the ceiling of his office. "Not much longer, Israfel. I wonder if you'll be as punctual as the others."


	17. Don't Fear the Reaper

_Apartment 302, Apartment Complex West_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _27 October 2015_

Misato Katsuragi was embarrassed. "Well…at least it's yours." Riana could not think of anything printable to say to that, so she instead just carried her two suitcases into the apartment—the second because Misato inisted on going shopping before moving in. Now Riana knew why. "It's an efficiency apartment," Misato tried to explain. "It's, you know…efficient."

"It's certainly that." Riana looked around. The front door opened directly into the main room, which was pretty much the only room. The opposite wall was taken up by a large window, which let light into the room, but the view was just of the next high-rise apartment complex. The right side of the room held a tiny kitchen, with a microwave, sink, and small refrigerator. A small hallway with a built-in closet led to the bathroom. Riana peered into it and wished she had not: the bathroom was not much bigger than a closet, the shower was mildewed, and the toilet festered quietly in the corner. The entire apartment appeared as if it had not been cleaned since Second Impact. The bed, which was new, was the only piece of furniture. Riana sighed and put a smile on it, for Misato's sake. "It's okay, Misato-san. All it needs is a woman's touch."

"That's the spirit." Misato reluctantly stepped into the apartment. "The phone's hooked up—it's a landline straight to NERV. You'll have a computer and internet by tomorrow. I'm sure I can find a spare TV somewhere, and we'll get you cable too."

"Thanks."

"Just so you know, you're being watched. Just the apartment, though—not inside," Misato quickly assured her. "If you need help, just dial 0 on the phone and there will be a security detail here in less than five minutes. If someone tries to break in, they'll be here."

"They're not going to spy in the windows, are they?"

"No, of course not," Misato said. _At least I hope not,_ Misato added to herself. She did not think NERV would stoop to that, but it was possible.

"Okay. Because you know I like to walk around naked all the time." Both of them laughed at that; Riana was still embarrassed to change into her plugsuit. "Do I have any neighbors?"

"Just one. Right above you, in Apartment 402." Misato paused. "It's Rei."

"Ayanami-kun?"

"Unless there's any other short, albino girls named Rei around here, yes."

That made sense, Riana mused. Having Rei and herself in close proximity simplified security for NERV. It also meant that Riana herself was still considered important. "I should probably go say hi, if she's home."

"Sure." Misato wished to herself that she could hang around to see that, but duty called. "I'll come back later and see how you're settling in—I'll bring some cleaning stuff too, if I can find where Shinji put it."

"That's okay," Riana said. "There's a convenience store down the street. I'll buy it myself—is that all right? The security team won't pounce, will they?"

"No, but don't be surprised if you see some guys in dark suits trying badly to blend in." _And for every you see,_ Misato thought, _there'll be five others you don't._ The pilots were always under guard, even at the school. "I'll be off, then. See you again, Riana…and good luck. I still believe in you."

Riana gave Misato a hug impulsively, and the older woman smiled. Riana bowed her out the door. The bow was so automatic now that she had not even noticed she was doing it until Misato was gone. She was getting better at etiquette, at least.

She grabbed her purse and the keys, and locked the door behind her. As she made her way down three flights of stairs, Riana noted with happiness that it was the first time in her life she had ever been on her own. The apartment was dingy, it smelled musty, and even if she was a little scared to see what fungus was growing in the toilet bowl, the place was hers.

She half-skipped to the convenience store six blocks away, and was proud that she was able to purchase everything she needed (and a box of pocky she didn't) by herself, without flubbing a Japanese word or having to consult her pocket dictionary. She was getting better at the language, too. Sure enough, on the way back, she noticed four men in expensive suits and at least one car.

Once back at the apartment, Riana changed out of her school uniform into her most worn clothes, tied a bandanna around her hair, and threw herself into cleaning with a vengeance. The convent was strict about cleanliness being next to Godliness, and while Riana was not quite as fanatic as the Mother Superior, she still wanted the place to be as spotless as possible. She sang as she worked; since there were no neighbors, there was no one to hear, and Riana belted out songs she would never have been allowed to sing at the convent.

Three hours later, the apartment was clean—even the toilet, which was not as bad as she thought it would be. Riana stood with hands on hips, satisfied. She pulled the old toy of Inu-Yasha out of her suitcase and spun around in a little impromptu dance. "It's my place, Inu!" she said happily to the toy. "It's my own place!" She kissed Inu-Yasha and set him down on her pillows, with their new, fresh-smelling pillowcases. "Still, this place needs some color. Maybe some flowers…definitely some posters…probably need a bookcase too, since I'm going to be buying lots of manga. Those blinds need to go too…"

 _Hold on, Martha Stewart,_ her internal voice told her. _You need to become a pilot first. You're still on Gendo Ikari's shit list. One more demerit and you're gone._

"Shut up," Riana told the voice. "I'm going to make it." She unpacked her suitcases, and came upon a photograph. She remembered reading somewhere that it was traditional in Japan to give a new neighbor a gift when one moved in. The photograph was of the mountains around the convent, and it was framed. She had other pictures in her scrapbook, and she could spare this one.

Humming another song, Riana walked up the stairs to Ayanami's apartment. She punched the doorbell, but there was no chime from inside. "Guess it's broken." She then knocked loudly, and to her surprise the door came open. Riana remembered Misato's statement that the Japanese didn't lock their doors, but this was going a little far. "Um…Ayanami-san?" Riana called out. There was no answer. _Maybe she's not home yet. Well, I'll just leave a note for her with the gift._ She stepped into the apartment, closed the door behind her, and slipped off her shoes—another thing that was automatic now.

She almost put her shoes back on. Rei's apartment could use a good cleaning as well. Unopened mail littered the entranceway, and next to the kitchen, Riana saw a box full of bandages, with long-dried blood on them. Her bed was made and a fresh school uniform laid out, but other clothes were strewn randomly around, and, to Riana's mortification, panties hung haphazardly from a circular dryer over the bed. _So much for Japanese cleanliness,_ Riana grumped. _Unless Rei isn't Japanese? Still, ew._ Riana ventured further into the apartment, looking for a notepad to write on.

 _"Nan desu ka?"_ Riana nearly leaped through the ceiling. She whirled and almost collided with Rei Ayanami. From the sudden humidity in the air, it was obvious Rei had just stepped out of the shower—which was behind a door that Riana had assumed was a closet. The other reason why it was obvious was that Rei wore only a towel around her neck and shower slippers on her feet. "Why are you here?" she asked, not angrily, but in a tone that implied people entered her apartment without permission on a regular basis.

Riana turned her back to the other girl, embarrassed for her nudity. "I, um, _gomen nasai,_ Ayanami-kun." Not trusting her Japanese, Riana switched to English. "I didn't mean to come in without permission."

Rei walked past her and tossed the towel on the bed. She half turned. "Is there something I can do for you, Arashikaze-kun?"

Riana almost turned again, which would have made the third 180-degree revolution she had made in as many seconds, but then commanded herself to stop and look Rei in the eyes. _She's not embarrassed,_ Riana told herself, _so you shouldn't be either. Hell, she's seen me naked, twice. We're both girls! It's no big deal._ "Er…I moved in downstairs today, and—"

"Yes, I know," Rei interrupted. "I heard you singing."

"Oh. You did? _Gomen…"_

"No reason to apologize. You have a good singing voice."

"Oh," Riana repeated, now feeling stupid rather than embarrassed. "I was in the choir at the convent. We didn't sing rock music, though." Riana tried to recover lost ground. "Well, anyway, Ayanami-kun, I thought I would bring you a gift."

Rei had turned her back on Riana and was selecting a bra from her cabinet. She turned around at that. "A gift? Why?"

That was not the response Riana was expecting, but nothing had gone right to this point anyway, so it was too much to expect things to change. "It's tradition here in Japan, right? For new neighbors?"

Rei's expression was one of genuine confusion. "I do not know," she said finally. "I've never had a neighbor before."

"Really?" She handed the photograph over to Rei. "I thought you might like this. It's a picture of where I'm from. I know it's not much, but I didn't really know what you'd like, and I thought you, um, might like some color in here!" The last part she added in a rush, because Rei's apartment most definitely needed _something._ Rei merely stared at the picture, and Riana was sure she had managed to screw up again.

"Where did you live?" Rei asked at length.

"Actually, I took this from right outside my window at the convent. Those mountains, there—that's the Bitterroot Mountains. You can just see the Lochsa River valley a little bit…I took this last winter."

"The sky is so blue." Rei traced the picture's frame with a finger.

"Yeah, there's no pollution there. I wish you could see the whole valley; it's really pretty. Especially in the winter, with all the snow."

"I have never seen snow."

Riana almost asked why, but then remembered that Japan did not have much in the way of seasons anymore. Montana still did, but the winters were much longer and harsher than the older nuns remembered. "That's too bad. Snow is a lot of fun—well, until you have to drive in it…" Riana's voice trailed off. "I…I hope you like it, Ayanami-kun. Er, I mean… _suki desu ka?"_

Rei hesitated, then nodded. " _Domo arigato,_ Arashikaze-kun. _Suki desu. Kirei desu."_ Thank you, Miss Arashikaze. I like it. It's beautiful. "I have nothing to give back to you."

"Ah, that's okay. It's no big deal. Anyway, I'm downstairs now, so you're welcome to come by, if you want. I can't make tea, but I can make a mean cup of joe."

"Joe?"

"Coffee."

"Oh." Rei smiled slightly. Riana grinned. The two were rather incongruous, she thought: the tall one, with her long brown hair, in her drab work clothes, and the short one, with short blue hair, and still naked.

Riana was about to call Rei's attention to her lack of clothing when sirens went off, so loud they actually shook the apartment's window. "What's that?" Riana yelled over the din.

Rei instantly snapped off a pair of underwear and began dressing. "An Angel."

* * *

Riana and Rei entered the cavernous chamber of Central Dogma. Riana was still in her work clothes, but Rei had changed in her plugsuit as soon as NERV security had delivered them to the Geofront. The bridge was fully manned: all three of the bridge crew, plus Misato and Ritsuko; perched a half-story above and behind was Gendo and Fuyutsuki. The atmosphere was electric, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Misato gave Riana and Rei a cursory nod, then turned back to the gigantic holoscreen projected in front of the bridge. In the cnter was a map of the coastline of Japan south of Tokyo-3, while in smaller projections to either side were readouts of EVA-01 and 02, as well as Shinji and Asuka, already in their Evas. Riana crossed over to Shigeru Aoba, who didn't seem quite as busy as the others. "What's going on?" she whispered.

He leaned over to her. "The JSSDF detected something big submerged off the Kii Peninsula. It's a blue pattern." Riana knew that confirmed Rei's assessment: there was an Angel on its way. Her heart began to beat faster. At long last, she was going to see the enemy.

Misato cleared her throat loudly, and Riana got the hint; she stepped back to let Shigeru do his job. Misato spoke to the pilots, in English for Riana's benefit. "All right, Pilots, listen up. Your telemetry shows the target." The map now showed an orange arrow: the Angel was on a direct path for Tokyo-3. "It's going to make landfall at the location of old Nagoya. JSSDF forces are en route, but they're only at 26 percent. For all practicable purposes, it might as well be zero.

"Shinji, Asuka, I want you two to meet it at the water's edge. Keep it in the water. Understand?" Both acknowledged. "Close combat regs: attack in turns, cover each other. You know the drill."

Asuka grinned cheerfully, though Riana noted with no small glee that the other girl still sported a split lip. "Okay!" Asuka chirped. "Sure thing, Misato!" She sounded happy to be back in her Eva and going into combat, despite the chances of violent death being depressingly good. It was unnatural. Apparently Shinji thought so as well, because he muttered something about Asuka having a split personality. He was also apparently unaware that he was in "hot mike," where everything he said was picked up by NERV and the other Eva. Asuka's geniality evaporated like ice on a hot day. "I heard that," she snarled, and Shinji went pale. "You know I'm really all they need for this. Try not to get in my way, _maggot._ " The rest of the Evas' march to Nagoya was done in silence and a great deal of glaring.

Misato sighed and turned to Rei. "Rei, I want you in Unit Zero. I know we're still calibrating it, but it's better than nothing if that Angel gets past Shinji and Asuka."

"Yes," was all Rei said. Misato nodded and Rei was gone through the side door.

"What about me?" Riana asked.

"Just stay here and observe." Misato smiled to show it was not personal.

Unfortunately, that was exactly how Riana took it. "Major Katsuragi," she said tightly, "I request permission to get in 03A."

Misato hesitated, but Ritsuko turned in her chair. "Miss Arashikaze," she snapped, "this is the real thing—"

"Evas in place," Maya interrupted. "Time to intercept, nine minutes."

"This is the real thing," Ritsuko finished. "You go out there in 03A, and the only thing you're going to do is die."

"But I can—"

"EVA-03A has no AT field!" Ritsuko exclaimed, exasperated. "Enough. This conversation is over." Riana looked to Misato helplessly, then to Gendo above them. Gendo said nothing, his face unreadable. Misato shrugged sadly: next to Gendo, Ritsuko was the final arbiter of if a pilot was qualified or not. Riana stole a glance at the projection screen, then took a step towards Ritsuko. "Dr. Akagi, a moment."

Ritsuko took in an angry breath. " _Miss_ Arashikaze—"

"One minute, Doctor! That's all I ask. One minute."

The look on Ritsuko's face promised an imminent and grisly death for Riana, and they locked eyes. Riana refused to turn away. Without breaking her gaze, Ritsuko said, "Lieutenant Ibuki. Time to intercept?"

"Seven minutes, Doctor."

Ritsuko gave Riana a short, furious nod. "Very well, Miss Arashikaze. One minute."

Riana dropped her voice to a whisper. "Dr. Akagi, if that Angel gets past Shinji and Asuka, you'll need all the help you can get. Even unskilled help. Major Katsuragi said that Tokyo-3 is basically defenseless, right? Well, my Eva can at least shoot a gun! I'm not that good, I admit, but I'm better than nothing! I can cover Rei, at least."

"Assuming Unit Zero doesn't—" Ritsuko abruptly cut that off, and Riana sensed that the doctor had almost revealed something she didn't want heard. "That Angel will kill you!" she hissed. The whispering was a moot point: the entire bridge crew could hear them.

"Then that'll still buy Rei time."

The finality that Riana said it shocked Ritsuko. "Don't play the martyr."

"I'm not, Doctor, but if that's what God wills, then so be it. _I want to fight._ That's what I'm here for. Either I'm a pilot with 49 demerits or I'm out of the program. If I'm a pilot, then put me in the game. If I'm not, then send me home. Right now."

Ritsuko looked at her feet. The anger drained from her face, replaced by sadness. Then she looked up to Gendo, and Riana saw him nod just perceptibly. Ritsuko nodded, then she spoke. "Then go, Riana. Go. Get in your Eva."

Riana smiled. She turned to Misato, who grinned at her despite it all. "Well, don't stand there looking stupid," Misato said. "Man your Eva… _Pilot_ Arashikaze." The girl gave the Major no time to reconsider; she was out the door.

"God be with you," Ritsuko said, so low that only Misato heard her. "Because He's the only one who can."

* * *

Riana made record time to the girls' locker room. Her shirt was already off by the time she reached the door, and she tossed it aside. Her pants and shoes were kicked off to land in parts unknown. With muffled grunts and curses, she pulled the plugsuit on, pressurized it with a gasp, and ran out into the hallway towards the elevator. It opened as she reached it, and she skidded in; Riana would have fell were it not for Ryoji Kaji catching her. "Going up, miss?" He punched the button for the Eva bays. "Ritsuko's letting you go out?"

"Yeah…wasn't…easy…" Riana puffed out.

"Knowing Ritsuko like I do, I'd hate to be in your plugsuit next time you have a physical. Rits-chan can be a little vindictive."

Riana caught her breath. "She didn't want me to go."

Kaji hesitated. "Listen, Riana. Ritsuko's not holding you back to be mean. She's doing it because she's seen too much here. People have died for Evangelion, Riana. Good people. Ritsuko doesn't want to see any more casualties, especially a 15-year old girl. And she _knows_ there will be casualties."

Riana shook her head. "I won't be one of them, Kaji-san. And if I am…" Riana gave the matter a thought. Barely fifteen years wasn't much. "…I've had a good life."

The elevator stopped, and Kaji's demeanor changed back to all smiles. "Well, you'll be fine. Only the good die young. You going to stand there?" Kaji thumbed towards the Eva bay.

"Hell no," Riana laughed.

He slapped her rump as she ran off the elevator. "Go get 'em!" Riana did not take offense at the playful slap; it weirdly made her feel like she was part of the team again.

* * *

The techs were already ready for her. She scrambled into the entry plug, helped one of the techs pin her A10 barrettes in place, then put her hands on the control sticks as the hatch was sealed shut. The plug was slid into place, and EVA-03A came alive. She patted the instrument panel fondly. "Sorry I was gone for a bit, old buddy." Even when the plug was filled with LCL, she almost welcomed the orange fluid as it poured down her throat—almost. When it was done and the drowning sensation passed, Misato's image came up on her viewscreen. She gave the Major a thumbs-up. "EVA-03A manned and ready."

"Very good. Stand by."

" _Hai."_ After a few false starts, Riana opened a private channel to Rei. "Unit Zero, this is Three-A. Looks like I'm your backup today, Rei." Rei nodded once and closed the window. _Well, what did you think she'd do?_ Riana thought to herself. _Turn backflips? Rei's a professional. Start acting like one yourself._

The viewscreen changed from the Eva bay to a ruined waterfront: it was an overhead view of what was left of the once-bustling city of Nagoya. EVA-01 and 02 stood at the shore. The camera panned over, and suddenly a bow wave appeared, and water sprayed to skyscraped height as something large and fast moved through the increasingly shallow water. "Enemy contact!" Maya yelled.

The bow wave rose and exploded upwards. When the water fell away, what stood there was one of the strangest sights Riana had ever seen. It looked like a pair of crescent moons, joined at their apex by an oval torso. Four fanglike protrusions held the torso and limbs together, and at the center of its mass were two orange discs. It raised its arms—or rather they rotated into place—which exposed tripartite hands that ended in very lethal claws. "Classify target as Angel Seven—Israfel," Gendo intoned.

"That's an Angel?" Riana whispered to herself. She had not really known what to expect, and while Israfel was intimidating, it was hard to believe it could kill them all, destroy NERV, and take the world with it. Riana expected to wet her plugsuit at the first sight of an Angel, but Israfel was less intimidating than EVA-01.

"Commence attack!" Misato ordered. All of it was in Japanese now, but what words Riana didn't understand were helpfully subtitled by her Eva's onboard computer.

"I'm going in, Shinji!" Cover me!" Asuka declared happily.

"What? Cover you?" Shinji exclaimed.

"Yeah! Ladies first!"

"Dammit, don't give me orders, you dumb rookie!" Riana was taken aback by the authority in Shinji's voice. He was normally so soft-spoken, and now he was giving Asuka hell. Riana wondered if he was holding back in school and at home. Whatever Shinji's misgivings, EVA-01 raised its rifle and opened fire. Thirty millimeter depleted uranium shells chopped at Israfel, but none hit: instead, faint yellow hexagons appeared where the shells detonated. _So that's the AT field,_ Riana observed. _Not good for me if conventional weapons can't do anything to it._

Then Riana saw the two pilots' strategy. While Shinji's shots did little damage, it distracted Israfel. Asuka splashed to the left of the Angel, used a half-submerged building as a vault, and leapt a hundred feet in the air, naginata raised to strike. Despite EVA-02's mass and height, it moved like a ballerina. Riana's mouth fell open. _Holy shit, Asuka really_ is _good!_

"Asuka, wait, there's two—" Shinji began, but he was cut off as Asuka let loose a savage war cry. Israfel turned to face her, but it was too late. The diamond-tipped naginata blade slashed downwards; there was a flash of yellow as the AT fields of both EVA-02 and the Angel collided, but the naginata caught Israfel just above the two discs and bisected it horizontally. It fell into two pieces as easily as if Asuka had filleted a fish. Israfel's halves twitched once and were still.

It took a moment to sink in that the battle was over. Central Dogma erupted in cheers, and Misato's voice shot across the airwaves. "Beautiful, Asuka!"

"Oh…it was nothing," Asuka laughed, with absolutely false modesty. On the small cutout screen, Asuka's face beamed with the adulation, but Riana admitted that the other girl deserved all of it. "Hey, Sister Riana," Asuka called out. "You see that?"

Riana decided not to take offense. "I sure did, Asuka. That was some shot! Awesome!"

Asuka looked a little surprised, but gave the camera the most honest smile Riana had seen from her. "Well, that's how a real Eva pilot handles things—" Shinji, in the other feed, suddenly cut her off. "Asuka, look out! That thing's still moving!"

The bisected halves of Israfel irised open, orbs appeared, and the arms curved back into themselves. With an audible, wet sound, the two halves fully separated and grew in an instant two Israfels, albeit slightly smaller ones. Riana could have sworn that the two-Angels-in-one looked smug.

" _Was zum fich?"_ Asuka swore, and it needed no translation. Misato caught it first. "Look out, you two— _here they come!"_

The two Israfels charged. Shinji, in near panic, began spraying the two with bullets, but none connected. Asuka stood her ground, waited until the Israfel headed for her leapt from the water, then swung the naginata in a devastating slash. It took the Angel's left arm off, but as soon as she pulled back the naginata, it healed itself like a zipper going up a jacket. " _Mein Gott!"_ Now Asuka's voice held more than a tinge of panic.

"Shinji! Start aiming, dammit! Asuka, go for the core!" Misato was still in control.

Shinji grunted in effort, brought up the rifle and fired a controlled burst. This one got through the AT field and took off his Israfel's right hand—and yet it too sprouted a new one almost immediately. Asuka traded edge for point and stabbed her Israfel's orange disc, but it too sealed itself up. "It's no use!" she yelled. "It's got some sort of reflexive healing system! What the hell do we do now?"

The decision was made for her, as EVA-01 was grabbed around the throat by the Angel. Asuka turned to help, only for EVA-02 to be grabbed from behind. Riana watched as both Evas were bodily picked up, lost their weapons and tossed in a perfect trajectory that ended in each other. There was a thunderous collision, bits of armor flew from the Evas, and both went straight down into a building, which collapsed around them. The two Angels stepped back, and then the picture derezzed as the pilot flying the camera VTOL turned and left the area.

"Oh, shit," Riana said into the silence.


	18. Veteran of the Psychic Wars

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know the music used in the actual episode is not Aaron Copland, but I wanted something more recognizable._

 _The Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _27 October 2015_

Riana finished her shower and got dressed, though it took her another five minutes to find her left shoe. Someone—probably Rei—had been kind enough to find her blouse and hang it up. Riana had waited until Rei was finished showering before going in herself: she might be growing more comfortable with the idea of nudity around the other girl, but there was no way she was going to share a shower with anyone.

Riana walked down the hallway towards one of the conference rooms, where Shinji and Asuka were undoubtedly getting a dressing down at the hands of Gendo Ikari. Riana was just glad that he was not angry at her. After she had gotten out of EVA-03A, Misato hurriedly informed her and Rei that the UN had used two N2 bombs on Israfel. The twinned Angel was stopped, burned, partially incinerated—but not dead. Recovery teams would get EVA-01 and 02 back to Tokyo-3 for repair and refit.

She reached the conference room just as Shinji and Asuka left. Both of them looked rather downcast. Riana was about to ask just how bad it had been when Asuka suddenly turned and kicked Shinji in the leg. He howled in pain. "What the hell was that for? Two seconds out the door and you ambush me?"

"Shut up!" Asuka thundered. "Why did I have to get yelled at?" She whirled on Riana. It was the first time they had been face-to-face since the fight. "And no comments from _you,_ Sister Riana!" Asuka shouted in English.

"I didn't say anything," Riana replied coldly.

Asuka gave her a dirty look and returned her attention to Shinji. "My first battle in Japan…ruined because of _you_."

"Why is it my fault?" Shinji protested.

"Because you're such a slowpoke! The Angel caught you because you reacted too slowly."

To Asuka's surprise, Shinji stood his ground. "You were slow too."

"No, I wasn't!" Asuka exclaimed. "I couldn't concentrate because you got caught, Baka Shinji!" Asuka actually stomped her feet in anger, and Riana smothered a laugh. "Not only does the Commander yell at me, he looks at me with such contempt!"

Riana saw Shinji's face darken at the mention of his father, and decided to try to smooth things over, for his sake at least. "Hey, look...that was just the first round. They'll give you guys another crack at it once your Evas are fixed."

"Yeah, no thanks to you or Wondergirl," Asuka shot back. "If you weren't in that toy Eva and Rei's wasn't broken, someone else could've come to Shinji's rescue."

"Oh, bullshit," Riana growled. "This whole thing happened because you were trying to play hero, Asuka." It wasn't quite true, but she was beyond caring.

" _What_ did you say?"

"You heard me." From the expression on Asuka's face, Riana got the impression that Gendo had said much the same thing. Asuka's fists balled, and Riana took two steps back—not out of fear, but to get fighting room. Shinji also stepped back, since it looked like the two girls were going to renew their fight, consequences be damned.

Luckily, for such situations, there was Ryoji Kaji. He entered from a side corridor. "Ladies, ladies! Squabbling at a time like this?"

Asuka's face instantly brightened, and went from pure rage to sunshine and happiness so fast that Riana could have sworn she heard a switch being thrown. "Ah, Kaji-san!" She glomped the older man. "We weren't squabbling. Shinji and Riana were picking on me."

"That is a damn lie!" Riana exclaimed. "Shinji wasn't picking on you at all."

Kaji wisely ignored her. "Well, how about dinner? Any of you eaten yet?"

"I had something earlier," Riana half-lied. She had only snacked on her pocky back at the apartment, but was not about to have dinner with Asuka. There might be steak knives within reach.

"Then you can help me out, Riana." Kaji took a jump drive from his pocket. Attached to it was a sticky note that read in English, _To my honey,_ with a crudely drawn heart. "Be a dear and take this to Misato, will you?"

"Um…sure, Kaji-san. Be happy to." She nodded at Shinji. " _Ja ne,_ Ikari-kun, Asuka." She deliberately left off the honorific. Kaji stepped in between them to give Shinji a friendly headlock. Asuka stuck out her tongue at Riana, who gave her the finger and walked off.

* * *

After a few wrong turns and then asking directions, Riana reached Misato's office about the same time as its occupant. " _Konnich wa,_ Misato-san."

"Hi," Misato replied tiredly. She evidently had been at the receiving end of Gendo's ire as well. Misato went into her office before Riana could hand her the jump drive. She followed the Major in, and was not particularly surprised at the state of her desk, which looked as if a third N2 mine had been dropped on it. Misato stared dejectedly at the pile of papers on the desk as if they were components of a bomb that, if put together, would blow her up. Ritsuko squeezed past Riana and handed Misato an official looking blue envelope with the globe of the UN printed on it. "Hello, Misato!" Ritsuko said with false cheer. "That mess on your desk—some of it, anyway—is damage reports and protests from various prefecture officials. They don't waste time. Neither does the UN. Here's the bill from them."

Misato took it and threw it in the general direction of the garbage can. "How's the Eva repairs going?"

"Should be five days before they're back in action."

"And the Angel?"

"Currently regenerating. Magi estimates five days for them as well."

"So both sides are out of action for awhile then," Misato sighed.

"Looks that way." Ritsuko poured a cup of coffee from Misato's battered but much-loved espresso machine. "Commander Ikari was not happy, I hear. Next time you might just get fired."

"That's not funny, Rits."

"Wasn't meant to be." Ritsuko jumped a little when she noticed Riana still standing in the doorway. "Miss Arashikaze! Would you _please_ stop blending in with the furniture? What are you standing there for?"

Riana had only followed about half the conversation, as it was in Japanese. "I came to drop this off. This is plan to kill Angel," she said in the same language. She held out the jump drive.

"Oh, that must be it," Ritsuko smiled.

"For me? Ritsuko Akagi, you're amazing!" Misato snatched the drive out of Riana's hand, but then she saw the note from Kaji. She handed it back to Riana. "I don't want this."

"You'd rather get fired?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato took it back.

"I'll go now," Riana said, but Misato froze her in place with a glare. Misato then turned and practically shoved the drive into her computer, cleared enough space off her desk to expose a monitor, and clicked on the sound file that came up. A combination of trumpets, strings and cymbals blasted from the speakers. "What the hell?" three voices said in unison—two in Japanese, one in English.

"That's Aaron Copland," Riana said. " _Hoedown._ "

Misato clicked the music off, then opened the second file, which was a Word file in hiragana script. "He's insane," Misato said at length. "I knew he was, but this is low, even for him." Ritsuko looked over her shoulder and read the file as well; Riana tried, but hiragana was something she had yet to even begin to master.

The doctor pondered it for a moment. "Misato," she said, "Kaji might be onto something. We're facing an enemy that is perfectly coordinated—two halves of the same entity, acting as one. If we can get two of our pilots to also perfectly coordinate, then they could work as a team and destroy both at the same time."

"Sure," Misato admitted, "but…music?"

"Of course," Ritsuko said, as if to a small, somewhat slow child. "Why do people work out to music? Why do drill teams use music? Why is there synchronized swimming in the Olympics—well, if we still had the Olympics."

Misato still looked far from convinced. "Okay. Assuming I agree with this, and I haven't yet, how do we get two of our pilots to do all that?"

Ritsuko sat down on a chair, crossed her legs, and steepled her hands in thought—then realized the gesture was too much like Gendo. "Their biological rhythms have to be the same. They have to do everything as one."

"And how do we do that?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko spoke to Misato, but answered the question. "Frankly? Lock them in a room for five days and have them train from dawn until dusk. By the end of the five days, they should be in tandem. With an intensive workout schedule, to the music Kaji's selected—" Ritsuko ignored the sick look on Misato's face "—it should work. It _might_ work," she amended.

"You're suggesting we beat the Angel with music," Misato said.

"Partially, yes."

"You're crazy."

Ritsuko chuckled. "More than likely. You have to be to work here."

Misato shook her head. "Beating an Angel by dancing. If this works, it'll be one for the history books. No, scratch that…it's too embarrassing." She sighed. "Gendo's never going to agree to this, and I don't blame him. Who do we choose? Rei might be up to it, but I don't think EVA-00 is going to be ready even by the end of the week."

Riana was leaning against the wall, confused by the rapid-fire Japanese. The two women suddenly looked at her. "What?" she asked, then pushed off the wall—and promptly tripped over her own feet, then knocked over an entire stack of forms. "Oh, dammit… _gomen nasai, gomen nasai…"_

"Asuka and Shinji?" Misato asked.

"Asuka and Shinji," Ritsuko confirmed.

* * *

Ten minutes and one surprising approval from Gendo Ikari later, Misato and Riana walked towards the cafeteria. "Why do you need me along?" Riana asked Misato.

"Moral support."

 _Whatever,_ Riana thought. She wondered if Misato intended to use her to threaten Asuka—if Asuka complained too much, Misato could simply order Riana to be the one to synch with Shinji. The thought of being in a room with Shinji for five days together, eating together, practicing together, sleeping together—Riana blinked. _Where the hell did_ that _come from? I'm not sleeping with Shinji. He's not gross or anything, but…no._

Shinji and Asuka were just leaving the cafeteria when Misato and Riana arrived. Asuka was muttering something about Kaji, and Misato ordered them both to follow her. "Where are we going?" Shinji asked.

"To prepare for our next operation," Misato replied, all business now.

"What's she doing here?" Asuka thumbed at Riana.

"Moral support," Riana and Misato answered simultaneously.

Then Misato began to explain. "Israfel acts in perfect tandem. Even divided, it acts with one mind. The only way to defeat it is to destroy both cores at once. It will take perfect timing from both Evas." Misato spoke slowly and deliberately, so as not to leave Riana behind. She knew the girl had been confused in Misato's office, and wanted Riana to know what was going on.

"Well, that lets out Sister Riana and her Frankeneva out," Asuka snickered.

"Not necessarily. Maybe Misato's giving me EVA-02," Riana countered sweetly.

Asuka turned on Riana with bared teeth. "Don't you _ever_ say that to me again, Riana. The only way you get my Eva is over my dead body." Riana swallowed and didn't reply; the cold venom in Asuka's voice actually scared her.

Misato snapped her fingers. "Asuka! Focus. If you don't, your dead body may be exactly what happens. Riana's a backup. We'll need complete harmony from you and Shinji, or the mission fails, and we all die. Got it?" Asuka nodded dumbly, shocked at the venom in _Misato's_ voice.

They reached an area of NERV that was unfamiliar to all of them. "Here we are," Misato said, and keyed in a combination on a lockpad. Inside the door was what looked to be a hotel room, with two queen-sized beds, a rather impressive entertainment center, and not much else. "Welcome to your new home for the next five days."

Riana put her fingers in her ears.

" _WHAT?!"_ Asuka screamed; Shinji said nothing, but the expression of utter horror on his face was exclamation enough. "You've got to be kidding!" Asuka continued. "Live together for five days? We're of the opposite sex, Misato!"

"I'd noticed. Look," Misato told them, "this isn't optional. This is an order. You two have to learn to be in complete harmony. _Complete._ You're going to train all day. You're going to get up together, eat together, train together, sleep together—not like that, Shinji, get that look off your face—and by the time we're done, you'd better think together. As a team."

"But…but…" Asuka shakily pointed a finger at Shinji. "What if Ikari gets horny and attacks me in the middle of the night?"

Misato interrupted whatever short and to the point statement Shinji was about to make. "He wouldn't have the guts, Asuka." Shinji's words died on his tongue, and he shrugged; it was true. "I'm sure you have everything you need here, but there's anything I missed, call me on the intercom. I'll kick you out of the sack at 6:30 AM, so you'd better get some sleep." She inclined her head towards Riana. " _Ikimasho,_ Riana."

Riana hesitated a moment before following Misato out of the room. She shook her head in pity at Asuka and Shinji. "You poor bastards."

* * *

As the door closed and locked behind them, Riana looked at Misato. "What do you want me to do? Should I pair up with Rei?"

Misato chuckled. "Might be interesting, but no. The fact is, Riana, the moves we have planned for the Evas, your poor old 03A won't handle. I still want you to be ready, though. Like you said, if nothing else, you can shoot the bastards." She considered the girl for a moment. "Though you're not very good at shooting. We've got five days. Let's get you some simtime. I think you impressed even Ritsuko today. Let's see if we can build on that."

"You bet," Riana grinned. "Do you want me to coordinate to music as well? We studied classical at the convent—that's how I knew Copland."

"God, no," Misato groaned. "One half-baked plan is enough." She pointed towards the cafeteria. "Go grab something to eat, Riana. I can hear your stomach grumbling from here. Get Kaji to drive you home. I am in dire need of alcohol, and a lot of it."

"So the fate of the world rests on a bitchy German girl, a scared Japanese boy, and Aaron Copland," Riana mused.

"I know, right?" Misato shook her head. "The least Kaji could've done was pick Metallica or something."

Riana laughed, and went into the cafeteria as Misato wandered back to her office. She waited until Misato was gone, snagged a bag of chips and some water, and wolfed both down. She would find Kaji, but first she needed to make a stop.

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi sipped on her coffee, then shut off the computer for the day. There was no point in going over the damage reports again. Neither EVA-01 or 02 had suffered more than moderate damage, mainly to armor. The unsung, hardworking technicians at NERV had plenty of experience repairing the Evas, and Ritsuko was confident they would make the deadline. The Evas would be fine.

No, it was the pilots Ritsuko was worried about. Shinji was still scoring lower than he should be, but he was improving; if Shinji would only believe in himself, he would improve even faster. Though Ritsuko never told him, Shinji impressed her. He was willing to fight even when near-crippled with terror, and in the last few battles, he was showing the beginnings of leadership.

As for Asuka, Ritsuko suspected that her bullying and hard-charging demeanor masked her own fears of inadequacy. She made a note to have EVA-02 repainted after its damage was repaired; Asuka took an inordinate amount of pride in her mecha's appearance, and if that helped her fight better, the added time and expense was worth it.

Rei was, of course, perfect. Ritsuko mentally fought down the feelings of envy and hate that welled up in her every time she thought or even saw Rei; she was a professional and a scientist, and should be beyond such feelings.

That left Riana. It would be simple to ship her home, were it not for Gendo's stubborn refusal to see that the girl was just not what he thought she was. Ritsuko admitted to herself that Riana's enthusiasm and willingness to sacrifice herself were impressive: she was not motivated by guilt like Shinji, a need to be praised like Asuka, or intensive training like Rei. Riana's motivations were genuine idealism. Ritsuko hated herself for admitting it, because that idealism was likely going to get Riana killed, and allowed Gendo to exploit the girl.

The knock on the office door startled Ritsuko. "Come in," she said. The door slid open to admit Riana Arashikaze herself. "Well, speak of the devil and the devil appears," Ritsuko said.

" _Gomen nasai,_ " Riana replied. _"Akuma? Iye, wakarimasen…yukkuri hanashi te kudasai?"_ Devil? No, I don't understand, could you say it more slowly?

"Never mind," Ritsuko told her, switching to English. " _Nani mo._ It's nothing. What can I do for you, Miss Arashikaze? You can take off your plugsuit, you know—you're not going back out today." _Or tomorrow, if I have my way,_ Ritsuko added to herself.

Riana ignored etiquette and went straight to the point. "Shinji and Asuka are training. I want to as well."

"Your Eva is not suited to Kaji-san's plan, Riana—"

"I know, Doctor," Riana interrupted. "I'm not saying I want to go live with them." She sat down. "Doctor, I know you don't like me…"

Ritsuko held up a hand. "My feelings have no bearing on the situation."

"Dr. Akagi, listen to me, please," Riana insisted. "I may have been raised in a convent, but I'm not an idiot. Not completely one, anyway. I get the feeling you're trying to protect me. If that's the case, then stop. I didn't come here to be protected."

"You've made that point rather clear. As you recall, I allowed you to pilot your Eva today."

"Yes, but if you had your way, I'd be on a plane home."

"I won't deny that, Miss Arashikaze," Ritsuko said. "Your sync ratios are terrible, even allowing for EVA-03A's first generation Evangelion technology. You show skill in melee combat which should translate to your Eva, but your accuracy with ranged weapons leaves a great deal to be desired. I have enough problems with the pilots we do have. I don't need the added headache of a green pilot trying to be something she's not."

"How do you know I'm not...whatever I'm supposed to be?"

Ritsuko opened her mouth to reply, thought better of it, and said instead, "I don't have the time to find out."

"You've got five days."

Ritsuko laughed. "Five days! You're going to become an Eva pilot in five days?"

"Why not?" Riana asked. "Shinji did it in five minutes." She shrugged. "Maybe I'll screw it up like I have everything else since I got here, maybe I won't. But we'll never find out if we don't try."

Ritsuko speared Riana with a steel gaze. Her voice was cold. "Very well, Miss Arashikaze, since you're being honest—which I appreciate, as honesty is in short supply at NERV—I'll be honest with you. You have spirit, yes. And you have faith. Those are both admirable qualities, but they are useless against the Angels. I want you gone, Riana, not because I hate you…but because, strangely enough, I like you. I'm tired, Riana," Ritsuko sighed, using Riana's first name for the first time since they had met. "I'm tired of sending young people out to die."

"I understand, Doctor, but—"

"No, you don't. And I pray you never will." Ritsuko paused. "I will do as ordered by the Commander. If he allows you to train, that is his business, but you must take it up with him."

The girl was trembling with frustration. "Why won't you believe in me?"

Ritsuko almost told her _because I don't believe in anything anymore,_ but that was too close to the truth. At NERV, the truth was too precious to share with anyone. "Riana, please…just leave."

Riana shot to her feet, fists balled, and shouted at Ritsuko, _"I SAID STOP PROTECTING ME!"_

The electronic clock on the wall exploded.

Ritsuko shrank back against her computer. The smell of ozone, of overheating computer parts, was in the air. It evidently was not enough for the sprinkler system to cut in, but it was there. "R-Riana!" she said in shock.

Riana blinked for a moment. She looked at the smoldering clock. "Oh…oh no." She took a step back. "I'm…I'm sorry, Doctor, I didn't—I didn't mean—I just…"

Ritsuko closed her eyes and let out her breath. It was just too late in the day for this. Over her exhaustion and shock, she felt something else, the curse of the Akagi family, the one feeling that both delighted Ritsuko and caused to hate herself: curiosity. Curiosity was what caused her to follow in her cursed mother's footsteps, to sell her soul to Gendo Ikari and NERV.

And, all the nonexistent gods help them both, Riana suddenly had Ritsuko's curiosity peaked.

"Riana-san." Ritsuko's quiet voice stopped Riana from frantically trying to find something to put out the sparking clock with, besides another cup of coffee. "All right. All right." She opened her eyes and looked at Riana. "You have five days." She held up a finger. "I will warn you. _I_ will be in charge of your training, not Major Katsuragi. I will work you from dawn until dusk, and perhaps beyond. All my instructions will be in Japanese, not English, and if you can't keep up, then I swear to you that you will be sent home, no matter what the Commander says. If you're late _once_ , your training will end. If you show no signs of improvement after five days, then I will have a chat with the Commander, and I tell you I will move heaven and earth to get you sent home.

"Before I did whatever Commander Ikari told me to, but now I will actively work against you. Can you handle that?"

" _Hai,_ Doctor Akagi. And if I show some improvement, however small?"

"Then you may convince me to keep you on here as a pilot."

"Then I won't disappoint you, Doctor. If you don't think better of me by the end of the week, I'll quit." Ritsuko smiled. Riana returned it. Both knew that the doctor was quite serious, but they also knew, so was Riana.

After a pause, Ritsuko nodded. "Very well. Be here tomorrow by 7 AM. How you get here is your problem. Now go home, get some dinner, and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be hell, and I am the devil." Once more, she held up a hand. "And _please,_ don't bark ' _hai'_ at me. This isn't a bad Sonny Chiba movie. I'm not a daimyo and you're no samurai."

" _Hai,_ Doctor." Riana said it in an even tone of voice.

"And wipe that goofy smile off your face before I knock your teeth out. _Ikimasho!"_ Riana stabbed a finger at the door. Riana rushed past her, skidded on the floor outside, and was gone down the corridor. Ritsuko let the door close, inspected the shattered clock, decided it was not going to set fire to her office, and wondered what she had done in a previous life to have such terrible karma. Then she sat down. "How in the hell did she _do_ that?"


	19. A Kind of Magic

_AUTHOR'S NOTE/EDIT: Max brought up some good points. Though the kaiju/vampire bit was meant as a throwaway line (I had no intention of introducing vampires or demons into this story, though the Angels might as well be the latter to the inhabitants of Tokyo-3), I can understand Max's reasoning. That is what sunk the earlier version of Evangelion Evolution, when I tried to do too much. Don't want that happening again, so the story has been slightly changed. Never say that I don't listen to my readers._

 _As far as the N2 mine explosion goes, remember that Kazuko does not know all that much about the Angels-she certainly knows less than the average Eva fan..._

 _First Municipal Junior High School_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _28 October 2015_

Kazuko Bishamon looked up from her desk as the school secretary walked in. "Yes, Kodachi-san?"

"Sorry to bother you, Miss Bishamon, but this just came in." The matronly woman handed an official looking envelope to Kazuko, with NERV seals on it. Kazuko opened it and withdrew a letter. "That's interesting," she mused. "Looks like all the Eva pilots have been excused from class this week, Kodachi-san. Not just Ikari, Soryu and Ayanami—Arashikaze as well. Better let everyone know."

"I heard there was another Angel over by Nagoya. I'll let their teachers know."

"Thank you, Kodachi-san." Kazuko watched her secretary leave, then took out the picture again, the one with her younger self, and Riana Arashikaze's father.

* * *

Riana dropped onto her bed in her apartment. She knew she needed to change out of her blouse and slacks into her pajamas, but all she wanted to do right now was sleep.

True to her word, Ritsuko Akagi worked Riana hard. She had barely gotten to NERV and put on her plugsuit when she was immediately summoned to the Eva launch bay. She was then put in EVA-03A in a simulated scramble, then march it to the launch rails fast rather than using the rail mover. She was then shot upwards to the floor of the Geofront again, and ordered to certain points in the gigantic cavern—all of which had to be completed in a certain amount of time, at a run. She completed that and was allowed a leisurely march back to the bay. Once there, Ritsuko had her out of the Eva and doing fifty pushups and situps each. Riana was sure that none of the other pilots were ever forced to do this, but she obeyed, even though by the end she had thrown up the LCL and her breakfast. She was then given half an hour to eat lunch—even though Riana was quite sure that Ritsuko knew that food was the last thing on her mind at that point—the it was back in the Eva, back in the LCL, for more testing and simulator battles. As Ritsuko promised, every order given was in Japanese, though at least the phrases were simple enough. She was sent home at dusk, despite protesting that she could sleep at NERV, and told to be back by no later than 7 AM. When Riana asked Ritsuko how she was going to get home, the doctor merely smiled at her and repeated "That's _your_ problem." Of course, Tokyo-3 had an excellent light rail system, but it still took a good half hour to get home. She was still responsible for any homework as well, plus she had to fix herself dinner. It gave her little time for herself.

Somehow she had to gather the energy to get up and throw something into the microwave. Her legs ached, her arms hurt from the constant shifting and stick movement to keep EVA-03A upright. "Get up," Riana commanded herself, but her body stubbornly refused the input.

Then she heard a knock on her door.

It was going on nine o'clock. Riana could not think of anyone who would be this late—somehow she doubted Rei would come down to give her encouragement. Then again, she might be wrong. The other possibility was that the diabolical Dr. Akagi just might have decided to test her even now. The knock came again, more insistent, and with a muttered curse, Riana levered herself upright and went to the door. She flung it open.

Instead of Rei or a NERV security man, it was Principal Kazuko Bishamon. " _Komban wa,_ Arashikaze-san."

It took a moment for Riana to find her voice. "Er, uh, _komban wa,_ Bishamon-sama."

"Oh, I think Kazuko will do," the older woman said. "May I come in?"

"Uh, sure." Kazuko took off her shoes and squeezed past Riana in the tiny hallway. Riana closed the door. "Awfully late for you to be here, Bishamon-sa…I mean, Kazuko."

Kazuko looked around the apartment. "A bit sparse, but I'd expect that, given your previous living arrangements."

Riana did not know what to make of that either. It made sense that the principal knew about the convent. "I…I was about to make some dinner. It's not much—instant ramen—but if you'd like some…"

"Of course." Kazuko smiled at her. "Why don't you have a seat? I'll fix dinner."

"Sure." Riana was now completely mystified. She wasn't in trouble (so far as she knew), so there was no reason why the principal of First Municipal Junior High should be there. _Unless she checks up on all the pilots?_ None of the others had mentioned that, but maybe it was common enough that they had not thought to.

The ramen was finished quickly enough, and Kazuko took a seat in the room's only chair—a haphazardly upholstered office chair Riana had found by the dumpster the day before. Riana devoured the ramen, hungry despite the lingering aftertaste of LCL in her mouth. Kazuko finished half of hers, washed it down with some bottled water, and faced Riana. "I suppose you must be wondering why I'm here."

"Checking up on the pilots?" Riana guessed that Kazuko knew the pilots' identities—if Toji and Kensuke knew, then probably everyone did.

"No, just you." She reached into her purse, withdrew the photo, and handed it to Riana. "I knew your father and grandmother."

The sudden reminder of her dead parents stunned Riana. She had pictures of both her father and mother, of course, and Rissa Arashikaze never let her forget the memory of her parents. Still, for a total stranger to hand her a photo she had never seen was enough to cause her to bite back tears. Riana reverently touched the picture of the father she had never known. "How?" she asked quietly.

Kazuko leaned backwards on the seat. "We served together. Before Second Impact. How much did Rissa say about your father?"

"A lot. I mean, she mentioned he was in the military."

"No specifics?"

"Not really."

Kazuko nodded. "After Second Impact, I imagine it must have seemed so pedestrian. Your father, myself, Rissa, and about two dozen others were part of a special forces team called Project Guardian. Our job was to put out fires. Have you ever heard of a group called al-Qaeda?"

"No."

"I suppose it doesn't matter now. We hunted bad people around the world. Terrorists, megalomaniacs, even the odd mad scientist who wanted to blow up Washington or something. Project Guardian was what we call 'deep black'—something so secret that it was right there with nuclear launch codes. Or, I suppose, what really happens at NERV." Kazuko waved a hand. "Don't worry. I'm not asking you to compromise any secrets. I probably know as much or more than you do. Suffice to say that we were the best of the best, the elite.

"My job was sniper. I was good, Riana. Very good. I can still dot the 'I' in a 'No Parking' sign at 700 yards…though these days I practice more with bow and arrow than with rifles. NERV probably would have some questions for a junior high school principal who was once considered one of the five best shots in the world." Kazuko paused, remembering. "Your grandmother was our commander. She's also good, as you know…never asked anyone to do anything she wouldn't do herself. Of course, there was little that she could _not_ do."

"That's Gramma, all right." Riana put the picture aside. "What about Dad?"

"Thomas was the _second_ best shot in the regiment. He served as my spotter, many times. But he was best with a pistol. He could fly an airplane, too. No fighter pilot, but still rather good. Certainly he got us out of many tight spots." Kazuko smiled. "That's how he met your mother, Clarice."

Riana got up, thew her ramen cup into the trash, opened her dresser, and took out her one good picture of both her parents together. Thomas looked the same as he did in the picture, with the same impish, sideways smile, but Clarice had a grin that Riana recognized from her own mirror. Her hair was black, with bright blue eyes. "Was Mom with the Guardians?"

"Not at first. She was actually the group's supply officer, if you can believe it. Her job was to make sure everyone had the equipment they needed, and got paid regularly. But Clarice was a scrounger like none other. She could find hot scrambled eggs at the North Pole. One time, before we headed out to a mission in North Ossetia, we needed a Russian-made jeep to get past the border patrols, and we needed it within six hours. Clarice not only found it, but she threw in the correct registration, Russian passports with up-to-date stamps, and uniforms—in our size. After that, she started coming along. The fact that she could speak seven languages fluently helped.

"Your parents fell in love pretty quickly. I won't say it was love at first sight, but something close to it. Make no mistake, Riana—your father was a scamp. He had a woman in every port, as the saying went. But as soon as he and your mother got close, he never even _looked_ at another woman again."

Riana laughed. "Gramma _did_ mention that Pop got around."

Kazuko finished off her ramen. "I would love to say that I'm just here to tell you stories about your parents, Riana, but that's not what I'm here for. It's high time you learned the truth, because I think your grandmother is afraid to tell you the _real_ reason why Gendo Ikari wants you in the Evangelion Project."

"He thinks I'm some sort of prodigy."

Kazuko's eyebrows went up. "He told you that?"

"No, but I think I can figure it out." Riana sat back down on her bed and held the stuffed Inu-Yasha in her lap. "Gramma said that Commander Ikari knows who my parents were. Gramma's told me a lot of those stories—like how my dad was a good shot and pilot, and how my mom had a head for numbers and a gift of languages. The Commander figures I've got the same talents. I can learn Japanese quickly, and then become a good Eva pilot." Riana rolled her eyes. "It would help if I had a _real_ Eva, of course, instead of this clunky training model…" Her voice trailed off, unsure if she had just revealed classified information.

Kazuko stood and walked over to the sink. She stood with her back to Riana for a moment, then turned and leaned her back against it. "Those may be factors, but those aren't the main reason. Did your grandmother ever tell you the truth about your mother?"

Riana was back to being confused. "How she died? In childbirth with me, right? She was hurt in Second Impact—'mortally wounded' was the words Gramma used. They had to C-section me, and she died an hour or so later." _Just long enough to hold me, was what Gramma said,_ Riana added to herself.

"That part is true, yes. No, what I'm talking about is what your mother actually was."

"You just said…"

Kazuko shook her head. "We knew she was a good scrounger, and we knew Clarice could speak those languages. What we didn't know, not until later, is that Clarice…could control time."

Riana blinked. "Um…huh?"

Kazuko took a breath, let it out. "The Guardians found out in Iraq. We were in Kurdistan, trying to help some locals fend off an Iraqi Army raid—they weren't supposed to be there, but neither were we—and the Iraqis dropped a mortar shell on us. We were all packed together, tight, in a big shell crater. If that mortar had gone off, we would've been killed, all of us.

"Instead, Clarice just held out her hand. The shell just _stopped,_ Riana. Just hung there in midair. We scrambled out of the crater, then she let her hand drop. The shell landed and went off. None of us were hurt. She apologized and said she wouldn't have done it if there was any other choice."

Riana leaned back on her bed, eyes wide. "But…how?"

"I wish I could explain," Kazuko sighed. "Clarice called it magic, and I guess it was. It's certainly believable."

"To a nut, maybe!" Riana exclaimed. "C'mon, Kazuko, this isn't funny!" In the heat of the moment, she forgot who she was talking to.

"It's not meant to be, Riana." Kazuko shook her head again. "In the name of Buddha, Rissa probably didn't tell you about the Mother Superior at the convent. Sister Shannon, as we knew her, ran some sort of Vatican black ops team. The Christian God alone knows what _they_ did. Did you think you were placed with the Order of St. Joan just out of coincidence? Your grandmother knew she could trust Mother Superior Shannon, because they'd worked together for years."

"This is crazy. This is crazy," Riana repeated. "Magic? Black ops nuns? Kazuko, you're out of your mind! Magic isn't real!"

"Explain the Angels, then."

"Easy. They're aliens."

"Are they?" Kazuko raised an eyebrow. "Riana, the center of a N2 mine explosion is nearly as hot as the surface of the sun. I have seen not one, but two Angels shrug off a N2 explosion like it was nothing. I suppose they could be aliens, yes…but what if they're not? We call them Angels, but what if they are something else-a demon, perhaps? I am telling you what I have seen with my own eyes, Riana."

Riana's mind whirled. "Wait, wait. Let me get this straight. Commander Ikari wants me because he thinks I have the same power as my mother?"

"Exactly," Kazuko confirmed.

"But I don't!"

"Then explain the stopped clocks." Kazuko ticked off her fingers. "You and Soryu get into a fight at Major Katsuragi's apartment. You're almost late for school because the clocks stopped. Your Eva's chronometer reset itself when you thought you were drowning in that LCL stuff. Yesterday, Dr. Akagi's wall clock exploded after you got angry. When you ate the wasabi, the school's clocks ended up thirty seconds behind. Your classmates will be happy to know that they've been getting out of school progressively earlier because we didn't notice until today." Riana had gone pale, and Kazuko crossed over to sit next to her. "I know, Riana. This is very fast. You don't believe me. You think that I'm drunk or crazy. I assure you I am neither."

"Then…Commander Ikari thinks I can do this magic thing? Like Mom? That I can stop time?" Riana threw her hands in the air. "That's a dumb power anyway!"

"Really?" Kazuko laughed. "Think of everything you can do when time stops. It stops for _you,_ Riana. It doesn't necessarily have to stop for anyone else. The reason why Clarice was able to scrounge up all of that so fast? I think she sped herself up. The wounds she took in Seattle were grievous, Riana, but she didn't die—she warped time around herself until the doctors could deliver you. She used herself up so you would live." Kazuko shrugged. "Granted, that is conjecture, but I saw her taken into the hospital, Riana. I was there."

Riana was quiet for a long time. "Oh, shit," she said into the silence, "you're not just the principal, are you?"

"I used to work for the United States government, Riana. I still do." Kazuko nodded at Riana's unspoken question. "When NERV began building Tokyo-3, the US government wanted to know what was happening here. In the chaos of Second Impact, it was quite simple to invent a whole new background for Kazuko Bishamon, simple teacher and school administrator who had grown up as a shrine maiden at Hakone. It's not that far off the truth—I really was born at Hakone, and my mother was a _miko,_ but I grew up in Portland, Oregon." Kazuko spread her hands. "There. Now you have power over me. Go and tell Gendo Ikari tomorrow and I will be dead by sunset. He won't take a chance."

Riana clasped her hands over her mouth. "The apartment might be bugged," she said between her fingers.

"It's not. I checked. I was here earlier, while you were gone."

"The NERV security team—"

"They didn't see me come in. They won't see me leave. I didn't do special operations for fifteen years for a bunch of men-in-black wannabees to catch me."

"But…" Riana got up and went to the window. She needed air. "But…" She turned back to Kazuko. "If I'm this hot-shit mage, then when do my powers kick in?"

"They already have. You just don't know how to control them," Kazuko said.

"And here's where you play Yoda and teach me how, right?"

Kazuko sighed. "I wish. I'm not a mage myself, Riana. I do, however, know a few things. I'm sure NERV won't think it too unusual if I decide to begin teaching you on the side. I can't teach you how to use your powers, but maybe I can help you control them. There are ways. Nothing magical, just some good old fashioned practice."

Kazuko stood. "I should go now. You have a lot to think about." She came over and put her hands on Riana's shoulders. "Listen to me. Clarice and Thomas were my best friends. I loved them like the siblings I never had. You are the best of them. You have magic, Riana. Even if it's not some sort of spells or anything—you have magic just being who you are. Magic may have gotten you into the Evangelion program, but it is _you_ that will keep yourself there…if you want to."

Riana's cheeks flushed with anger. "You're damn right I want to."

Kazuko smiled and kissed her on the forehead. She turned and went to the door, where she put on her shoes. As she opened the door, she looked back at Riana. "Just remember that you must control the power, Riana. You cannot let it control you—and you especially should not let Gendo Ikari control it, either." Then she was gone.

Riana stared at the door for a long time, then lay down on her bed. Then she stared at the picture of her parents for a long time as well.


	20. Your Wildest Dreams

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: If this chapter seems distinctly weird, there is a good reason for it. This is also an Evangelion fanfic-it's supposed to be weird. Note that this scene is based on the first chapter of the "Shinji Ikari Raising Project," Volume 12. And by based, I mean almost word for word...but again, there's a good reason._

The four of them stood before a building. It was a beautiful day in Tokyo-3, with barely a cloud in the sky, but the humidity was blessedly lower than usual. It was, Riana reflected, perfect.

"See?" Misato said. "Doesn't that look nice?"

"What is this place?" Shinji asked.

"I think it's an ice rink," Rei replied.

Misato began walking towards the building—which was indeed an ice rink—and motioned the three teenagers forward. "You see, I realized I haven't been ice skating in awhile, and suddenly really wanted to. And when I mentioned it casually to the Commander, he said, "Fine idea, Major!" and got tickets for everyone."

"So you got Dad to pay for your whims on the condition that you dragged us into it," Shinji said. He shook his head.

Asuka looked morose. "Look, I know _everyone_ is an inclusive term…but does it have to include _her?"_ And she pointed directly at Riana.

It was then that Riana realized something was not quite right. For one thing, she had seen Shinji, Asuka and Misato all dress casually around the apartment during the short time she was there, but Riana had never seen Rei in anything besides her school uniform or a plugsuit. Yet here she was wearing a short dress and an interesting ensemble of shirt and tie. For another thing, everyone was speaking Japanese…and Riana was able to understand every word.

"Well, actually, it does, Asuka," Misato was saying. "The rest of you have no experience ice skating, whereas Riana is an expert."

"I am?" When Misato suddenly glared at her, Riana gulped and added, "Uh, of course I am!" Despite growing up in a place where winter was still a season, Riana had never ice skated in her life.

Misato laughed at the increasingly flustered look on Asuka's face. "Riana's got a lot of talents, you know," Misato winked.

Riana took Shinji's hand. "It's really not that tough," she assured him with false confidence. "Just follow my lead, Shinji-kun." She grinned at Asuka. "Soryu-san? Want me to teach you too?" she asked.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Does that really deserve the dignity of being taught? Ice skating?"

* * *

Once inside, Riana switched out her shoes for ice skates. To her surprise, she was also wearing a rather short dress, shorter than any she had ever worn, and knee-high striped red and black socks, almost leggings, similar to what she had seen other girls at school wear. Riana did not own socks like that. Yet she did not feel embarrassed. She felt rather free, actually. The chill of the ice rink was welcome after the often oppressive heat of Japan.

Riana took hold of either side of the entrance, took a tentative step onto the ice, and…did not fall. She leaned forward, in the manner she had seen ice skaters do on television, and moved ahead, one foot after another. She did not fall. She did not even wobble. It was as if she had been ice skating all her life. Riana laughed with sheer exhiliration as she began going in wide circles across the rink, effortlessly avoiding the few other skaters on the ice.

Behind her, Rei and Shinji also moved out onto the ice. Rei tried to emulate Riana, and promptly slipped and fell backwards onto her rear end with a very un-Rei like yell. Shinji tried to get over to her, and fell on his face.

Bidden by some instinct she could not understand, Riana decided to show off. She skated over to Shinji and Rei, then threw herself into a double axel, twisting in midair twice—though it ended up being more like one and a half, and the landing was by no means perfect. But she did not fall.

"Wow," was all Shinji and Rei said.

"It was okay," Riana told them, the confidence real now. "There was a little bit of a gap there. Not really up to 'wow' level." She easily went over to them. "Are you two all right?"

"Yeah," Shinji answered, "but that _was_ pretty awesome, Arashikaze-san."

Riana smiled. Abruptly, she realized that her dress had fluttered upwards during the double axel, which meant it was highly likely Shinji had seen her panties. Then Riana also realized that she didn't care.

There was a muttered curse behind her. "How about you, Soryu-san?" Riana asked.

Asuka was hanging onto the rail for dear life. Her legs seemed to be intent on going their separate ways. Sweat shone on her face, and the expression she gave Riana was a mixture of desperation and pure poison.

Riana was not above twisting the knife. "Soryu-san, if you cling to the rail, that limits you to a zone of about two feet wide on the outside of the—"

"Will you _shut up?!"_ Asuka shrilled. Defiantly, she moved away from the rail and got her legs under control. She wobbled a little. "It's fine," Asuka said, as much to reassure herself than the others. "All this requires is a little intelligence—" And with that, her legs went out from under her, and Asuka made a three point landing—feet, knees, and face. She lay on the ice for a moment, then was back on her skates with remarkable speed. Her face was red, with a combination of anger and pain. "This is so _stupid!"_ she shouted, and the entire rink clearly heard her. "I've had enough!" She skated for the exit.

Riana was about to say that Asuka's anger was smoothing out her skating quite well, but Shinji beat her to the punch. "Wait, Asuka! You're doing it now—" Down went Asuka. She caught herself on her elbows this time, and a flood of soft cursing filled the air.

Misato drifted out onto the ice, as home on it as any expert—which for all Riana knew, Misato was. "At first, it's going to seem impossible," she told Asuka, "but you're definitely the type who excels once they get a grip on the basics."

Asuka struggled to her feet. "Yeah? What if I don't care?"

Riana turned her back on Asuka. "It's impossible for her, Misato. Asuka's a quitter." Riana's words were said slowly, deliberately, and she threw a savage grin at Asuka over her shoulder.

Asuka purpled. "That's it! You're going _down!"_ She threw herself forward, stayed upright, and came after her.

"That's more like it!" Riana taunted. "Now try and catch me, Asuka!" She sprinted out of reach down the rink. After a few seconds, Riana had to turn to avoid the rail, and went into a long arc. To her surprise, Asuka not only was still on her skates, she cut across Riana's arc to cut her off. Riana was still faster, but Asuka halved the distance. Now in a stern chase, she did more than halve the distance—Asuka closed it. "Three meters, Riana," she chanted. "Two!" Asuka's hands reached out to grab her, and just missed. The expression on her face left no doubt that, if she caught Riana, the other girl was going to be demolished.

 _Damn,_ Riana thought to herself, _I knew Asuka was athletic, but I didn't think she'd master skating that fast. Hell, for that matter, I didn't know I was that good at it myself._ Once more, Asuka's hands reached out. Riana gave herself a slight burst of speed, but it was only a moment's reprieve. Assuming Asuka didn't close the distance, Riana would have to turn soon, otherwise she would mow down both Shinji and Rei, who still remained close to the rail. She got a gloriously fun, evil idea. _Sorry, kids._

Riana leaned over, almost if she was going to fall, and threw out her left hand. She used it as leverage to spin herself around, instantly switching direction to turn directly into Asuka, but to one side. Riana was back up vertical in a second, as Asuka's skates sliced through where Riana's hand had been a moment before. "Hey!" Asuka protested. "I can't turn that fast—" There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh in a violent collision. Riana pirouetted in place and bit her lip at the tableaux in front of her.

Rei had managed to catch Asuka, and both of them leaned against the rail in the world's most awkward hug, Rei's legs on either side of Asuka's. Shinji was flat on his back, taken down by Asuka, face up between them…with his face planted squarely in Asuka's crotch, red and white striped panties out for the world to see.

There was silence for the count of ten, then Asuka exploded, "What are you _doing_ down there? Baka Shinji! I can't believe you! You turn something as innocent as ice skating into a perverted display of…" She raised her right fist as Shinji managed to get himself out from under Asuka. "I don't even know why I bother hitting you anymore!"

Shinji somehow stood up and faced Asuka. "You were aiming for me, isn't that right, Asuka?" he said accusingly.

 _This can't be happening,_ Riana said. _That's impossible. This is utterly ridiculous. I can ice skate all of a sudden, Rei has more than one expression, Asuka and Shinji are fighting like they're married—I've never seen Shinji stand up to her like that, except in combat—and they're all speaking in Japanese, and yet I can understand them like I've been speaking the language all my life…at least I guess they're speaking in Japanese; it seems like English to me. It's almost as if…_ She laughed aloud. _Of course. This is a dream. This is a stupid dream._ Shinji and Asuka were now facing her, Rei staring at her shoes, a blush spread across her face. Riana laughed again and threw caution to the wind. _Oh, the hell with it._

"That's not fair!" Riana yelled. "I want in too!" She launched herself at Shinji in a spear a pro wrestler would be proud to call their own. He was driven backwards onto the ice, his head now sliding neatly under Rei's dress, with Asuka once more awkwardly holding onto Rei, her face next to hers that in one more millimeter would result in a kiss. Riana hugged Shinji, enjoying the heat of his body. Alarms began going off, as Misato skated over to them, remarking that this was their most complicated arrangement yet…

* * *

…and the alarms became the insistent trill of her clock radio. Riana blearily opened her eyes, glanced over, and saw that it was 5:30 AM. She had thirty minutes to get ready, get to the station, and catch the train to NERV for another round of training.

Riana lay in bed for a moment, her mind still trying to figure out which part was the dream—the ridiculous things that Kazuko Bishamon had told her, or the equally ridiculous dream of the ice rink and decidedly out of character Rei, Shinji and Asuka… _well,_ Riana thought, _maybe not Asuka._

She threw herself out of the bed—she didn't remember putting on her pajamas, but they were on—and stumbled into the closet that passed for the bathroom. She retrieved her toothbrush and looked in the mirror…and blinked. Her long brown hair was a mess, her normal bangs askew as if a manga artist had drawn her wrong. That seemed strange. She could have sworn that she had short hair, cut in a style similar to Rei's. _No…_ she correct herself. _That was the dream. I've always worn my hair long…haven't I?_


	21. When Worlds Collide

_Kintoki Temple_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _31 October 2015_

Riana held the bow at arm's length, aimed down the arrow, let out her breath slowly, and let fly. The arrow shot from the bow, flew towards the target…and missed it by at least five feet. It did hit a tree straight on, however. The monk underneath the tree straightened up and gave her an expression of equal parts contempt and fear.

"Uh… _gomen nasai!"_ Riana called out. The monk said nothing, finished watering the flower at the base of the tree, and moved on—well out of range.

"That was terrible," Kazuko Bishamon sighed.

"I told you I was no good at this," Riana said. "My depth perception isn't all that good. It's why my doctor back home said I'll probably need glasses soon." She shrugged. "Besides, at least I fired the damn thing. Better than what I was doing yesterday."

Kazuko gave a grunt in response. Flawlessly, she nocked the arrow, brought it up to her ear, held the fletching with three fingers, and shot. The arrow sank into the center of the target. Riana shook her head. "Other than making me feel even dumber, what was the purpose of that?"

"How did I do that?" Kazuko asked.

"You've already asked me that five times—"

"How did I do that?" Kazuko pinned Riana with a stare. Riana frowned and said dully, "You were able to do that because you can feel the target. Mind and body are one. You can feel the bow, feel the arrow, and feel the wind. It's what you called _muga._ "

"Exactly. Very good. Now why can't you do it?"

Riana sat down dejectedly on the steps of the temple, put her bow across her legs, and jammed her elbows into her knees. "I don't know. I'm not Japanese?"

Kazuko lightly tapped her forehead with the bow. "Race and ethnicity have nothing to do with it."

"Says you." Riana leaned back. It was another beautiful day, warm and with just enough clouds to be comfortable. About three miles below and south of them was Tokyo-3, its skyscrapers sparkling in the dawn sun. She could pick out the junior high school, where her peers would be starting class. Kazuko was taking mornings off for Riana's training, and somehow convinced Ritsuko Akagi to do the same for Riana. It meant another two hours tacked onto her training in the Geofront in the early evening, but the morning sessions would be worth it, Kazuko reassured her. So far, it was not. "If I'm supposed to be this super magic user or whatever," Riana grumped, "then you'd think I'd be feeling something."

Kazuko sat down next to her and took a drink from a water bottle. "And as I told you yesterday, it's not going to just happen instantly. Do I think my ability to shoot came in a day? It took months of practice and training. You want things to happen quickly, Riana—which is understandable. You're young. Everything has to move fast. But I am telling you to move slowly. As we used to say in your grandmother's team, slow is fast."

"I don't have time to move slowly!" Riana exclaimed. She lowered her voice. "Kazuko, the Angels are supposed to be ready to attack again by tomorrow! I mean, I know I can't stop them or anything, but I still have to be ready…"

"For what?"

"I don't know. Something." She grabbed the bow and fought down the urge to break it over her knee. "Just so _frustrated!_ I _supposedly_ have these powers, and I can't use them!"

"You can. You're trying too hard." Kazuko poured some of the water on the ground. "The water doesn't try to turn the dirt into mud, it simply does."

Riana rolled her eyes. "Kazuko, with respect…I don't buy into all that Buddhist sutra philosophy stuff."

Kazuko took another drink and handed the bottle to Riana. "All right, then. Since you don't buy into the 'Buddhist sutra' stuff, what about your own Christian faith? By that measure, God has granted you a gift much greater than that given to other human beings. You are, in your own way, an angel. If He has granted that, then has he not also granted you the ability to learn and control them? Have faith in God and in yourself."

Riana chuckled. "'Fear God and dread nought.'"

Kazuko nodded. "Good saying."

"Mother Superior says it a lot." Riana finished off the water. "And what about yesterday? You had me sweeping the front of this temple and cleaning the floors—by hand!"

"We have to repay the monks for allowing us to use the facilities."

"Sure, and that's fine, but you called it training."

Kazuko nodded again. "And what did it teach you?"

"I already knew how to clean," Riana replied shrewishly.

Kazuko ignored that. "It reinforced your patience. You already have that. It's good to know that the good sisters of the Order of St. Joan did instill _some_ of their teachings in you. I doubt I could keep Aida or Suzuhara on task that long. And the monks said you did a good job."

Riana stood. "Next thing I know, you'll be having me wax your car."

"Don't tempt me." Kazuko also got to her feet. "Shall we try again?"

* * *

Three hours and no bullseyes later, Riana was riding the elevator down into the bowels of NERV, alone. Kazuko dropped her off at one of the main entrances. The guard swiped Riana's red ID card, and cleared her through. They were getting used to her now, but Riana noticed that they no longer greeted her in English, but spoke in Japanese. Ritsuko Akagi kept her promise: from the moment Riana entered the facility, the only words she heard were in that language. Even if she cursed in her Eva, Dr. Akagi would snap at her to curse in Japanese. Riana had to admit that it did help, however: she was improving her language skills quite a bit. Since the dream, understanding the foreign language seemed much easier. _Maybe Kazuko's right,_ Riana thought as she leaned against the elevator. _Just wish I could unlock my hidden levels a lot faster…just wish I knew some damn cheat codes._ At least the instrumentation in the Eva was still in English.

The elevator slowed, but Riana saw it was not her floor. The doors dinged open, and Commander Gendo Ikari stepped in. The doors closed, and it was just the two of them.

Gendo at first paid Riana no attention. Then he glanced over his shoulder at her. "Miss Arashikaze."

Riana abruptly remembered her status and bowed to him. "Commander Ikari. I apologize for my poor manners."

"I was not offended." Another pause. "Doctor Akagi has been keeping me informed about your training. You have noticeably improved, particularly in your understanding of our language."

"Thank you, sir."

"Your shooting still leaves much to be desired. I understand you have been training with the principal of your school? I am surprised she is showing such interest in a single student."

Riana felt the danger. She could not reveal Kazuko's secret; she could not even hint at it. "She…knows I am an Eva pilot, Commander. And that I'm…" Riana tried to remember the Japanese word, failed, and said it in English. "Unique." Gendo raised an eyebrow. "In that I'm an American. That I'm unfamiliar with Japanese training and culture. She wanted to help." Riana put a smile on it, and was absolutely sure Gendo could see through her lie. "After all, if we fail as pilots, she'll die too, _neh?"_

"Very true. What kind of training is Miss Bishamon giving you?" Riana told him, and Gendo slowly nodded. "Interesting. A very traditional approach indeed. Still, there is something to the old ways." The elevator came to a stop and dinged. Gendo stepped out of the elevator and turned to face her. "Good luck, Miss Arashikaze."

Riana was taken aback by the admonition, and almost forgot to bow. From what she knew about Gendo Ikari, wishing someone luck was not something he did. "T-Thank you, sir," she said, but the elevator doors were already closed.

As the elevator went to the Eva bay floor, she picked apart the conversation in her mind. The Commander had been gracious, even friendly—as friendly as he could get, anyway. She tried to find the hidden meaning in her words and could not. _Maybe…he likes me?_ Of the pilots, Riana knew that Rei was Gendo's favorite. It made sense: Rei Ayanami obeyed orders instantly and made very few mistakes. Asuka was next, though Riana believed—or wanted to believe—that Asuka's attitude neither impressed nor pleased the Commander. As for Shinji, it was an open secret in NERV that father and son did not get along. Riana could not begin to guess why; she liked Shinji and she respected Gendo Ikari. _Maybe Gramma was wrong about him?_

The elevator opened and Riana headed for the locker room. It was empty, and she changed quickly into her plugsuit. Like the Japanese language, it was getting easier every day. She still felt a little on the naked side, but at least it did not feel like she was being squeezed. The LCL was still frustrating, however. Riana had learned to drink it down and even got used to the weird taste, but vomiting it back up after every session was no fun and never would be. The day before, she had gagged so hard LCL came out her nose, which rather felt like someone sandblasting her sinuses. She wanted to ask Rei or Shinji how they got used to it, but she had seen neither of them for five days.

As she headed for the bays, she nearly collided with Ryoji Kaji. "Hey there, Riana!"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Kaji."

Kaji laughed. "So formal! I see Ritsuko's got you trained." Riana said nothing to that, so Kaji continued, "Speaking of our illustrious doctor, she's currently in a synch test with Rei in EVA-00. She told me to tell you to have some lunch and she'll see you in an hour."

Riana hesitated. Was this another test? Was she supposed to report to the Eva bays in any case, and ignore Kaji? He was not her superior officer, after all—Riana had no idea what exactly Kaji did around NERV besides pick up new Eva pilots. Then again, her arms ached with the exertion of holding taut bowstrings for four hours, and an hour break would be welcome. Riana decided to compromise: she would listen to Kaji, but she would not eat lunch. Besides, if throwing up LCL was bad, adding the remains of her lunch was much worse. "You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Mr. Kaji?"

Kaji grinned. "Who, me? Never. I don't lie to pretty girls."

Riana blushed at the compliment. _He's smooth. Handsome, too. Way too old for me, though._ Riana mentally crushed those thoughts. _Dammit. Not supposed to be thinking about guys!_ She knew part of it was just the natural part of puberty—girls were supposed to notice cute guys, after all—but the thoughts had gotten worse since she came to Tokyo-3. Toji looked good sometimes. _Kensuke_ looked good sometimes. Feeling like a hormone-addled idiot, she waved as Kaji headed off down the corridor.

* * *

Now that she had an hour to kill, Riana wasn't exactly sure what to do. Lunch was out, though her stomach protested the idea. She wasn't going to sit in the locker room, and she really did not want to go to the Eva bay and stand around until Ritsuko showed up. A sign caught her eye, and Riana decided to follow it.

Just inside the Geofront was a little garden. Riana had been there once before. It looked out of place among the technological sterility of NERV, and its Roman-style décor would have looked out of place in the city above. Still, the tinkling of the fountain and the soft coolness of the water would be comforting. Kazuko had advised Riana to "center" herself—more of her Buddhist weirdness, Riana mused, but centering oneself was also part of her martial arts training. Back at the convent, and in sparring sessions with her grandmother, Riana learned never to lose her temper, because then she became easily exploited. She still did, but the idea, at least, was to try. The mountains around the convent always helped her calm down, so maybe the fountain would do the same. Riana opened the door and stepped out.

She realized she was not alone. Shinji and Asuka were in the garden, under the gazebo.

Riana quickly ducked behind one of the huge potted plants that surrounded the garden. It was hard to hear Shinji—he was always so soft spoken—but the entire Geofront could probably hear Asuka. "Shut up!" she shouted, three times. "You have _no_ right to say that to me! Who do you think you are?" _I see Asuka is still in Permanent Bitch mode,_ Riana thought. _Poor Shinji. To be stuck with her for the past four days…he's going to apologize, I bet._ Right on cue, Shinji did exactly that. Riana didn't expect him to keep talking: "It's just that…I used to be like that too. So I understand."

"You? Understand _me?_ " Asuka shrilled. "What a laugh!"

There was silence. "Sorry," Shinji repeated. "I'll go back now." He turned his back on her, walked past Riana, and went back into the facility. Riana noticed he was wearing some sort of spandex suit with a halter top marked with musical notes. _Good to know I'm not the only one being humiliated around here._

Asuka stared after the boy for a long time, then sat down hard on the bench under the gazebo. Riana considered also making a retreat, but her curiosity won her over. She got out from behind the potted plant and walked towards Asuka. "I could have sworn they had you training at Misato's apartment now." It was the first thing that came to mind, and Riana had the pleasure of watching Asuka nearly leap through the gazebo roof.

"Who the hell—oh. It's _you._ " Asuka contemptuously turned her back on Riana. "Surprised you're still here. At NERV, I mean."

Riana walked past her and sat at the edge of the fountain, dipping her feet in. Even through the plugsuit, the water felt good. "Not getting rid of me that easy."

"Guess not. You're like a bad credit card—everywhere I don't want to be."

"Door's over there," Riana pointed. "I have an hour to relax, and you're not going to ruin it."

It was quiet again. To Riana's surprise, Asuka got up and sat at the edge of the fountain, took off the ballet slippers she was wearing, and dipped her feet in as well. She wore the same sort of outfit Shinji did, cut in a much more revealing bikini-style that showed far too much skin for Riana's taste. Asuka did not seem to notice.

They sat like that for ten minutes, and Riana closed her eyes. She tried to center herself, tried to hear just the sounds of the Geofront—it was remarkably quiet for such a facility—and tried to breathe slowly, remembering the lessons her grandmother, the sisters, and now Kazuko taught. It was impossible. The knowledge that Asuka Langley-Soryu sat three feet away made it so. Instead of calming herself, Riana replayed the fight over and over in her head. Riana thought of scenarios, how she could have reversed Asuka's holds, how she could have hit the other girl harder, how she could have avoided being hit herself.

"What are you doing?" Asuka's voice suddenly broke into an ugly vision of Riana snapping her neck.

"Trying to meditate." _Go away,_ Riana added to herself.

"Well, you're doing it wrong. You're getting all red in the face." Riana opened her eyes. Asuka was smirking at her. "Have to say one thing," Asuka said. "You haven't quit yet. I figured you would."

"Fuck off," Riana snapped.

Asuka was silent for a moment. "At least you don't lurch around like a battleship with a bent screw like Shinji does. I'll give you that." She shook her head. "I really don't know what you're trying to prove here, Riana. Your toy Eva doesn't have—"

"—an AT Field. Yes, I know. Dr. Akagi reminds me of that every day. I really don't feel like restarting our fight, Asuka. Neither one of us can afford it right now."

Asuka stared at her. "I've honestly never met someone with a death wish before—"

"What were you and Shinji arguing about?" Riana asked, to change the subject. Any more of that line of questioning and one of them was going to bleed.

The other girl's face darkened and she turned away. "None of your business."

Riana motioned at the dance outfit. "What are they having you do? I know about Mr. Kaji's idea, but I didn't realize they were going to make you actually _dance_ to it." Riana leaned back. "I guess it could be worse. At least you don't have Dr. Akagi making you do situps until you puke."

"At least you get to wear your plugsuit." Asuka plucked at the halter top. "Shinji is so slow," she abruptly said. "He's always a half beat behind. He can't jump. He's a klutz."

"Maybe you're a half beat too fast. Ever think of that? That the problem might be you?"

"Fuck off." Asuka grinned savagely. "Too bad you don't have your real Eva yet. They could pair _you_ with him. You're both klutzes."

The battle flags were raised. "Surprised they didn't just pair up Rei with him. She'd be a hell of a lot better than Jet Alone Asuka." Riana shot back. If Asuka could press her buttons, she would by all that was holy press hers. Asuka's grin faded, and Riana kept up the attack. "That sounds like a good idea, actually. Let Ayanami and Shinji do it. You can watch them fight the Angel, back in the rear with me." She remembered her dream. "Just _quit,_ Asuka. That's what you want me to do, _neh?_ Shinji's too hard to dance with? Just quit!"

They stared daggers at each other for a moment. Fists balled in silence. Both of them tensed up. Then suddenly, without warning, Asuka began to laugh. Riana blinked. Asuka began to laugh so hard she kicked her feet out of the water, splashing them both. "Oh God!" Asuka giggled. "I don't believe you! Misato put you up to this, didn't she?"

"What…what are you talking about?"

"You!" Asuka caught her breath, wiped her eyes. "I get it. 'Get her mad, Riana,' Misato said. 'Piss her off. You two hate each other, right? Get her so mad that she'll come back her and show us all. She and Shinji will synch up just fine. Do it, Riana! Push her buttons!'" Asuka laughed again. "That's so rich!"

Riana was now the one who was a half beat behind. "What…you think…"

Asuka cut her off by getting out of the water. She put the slippers back on. "Well, you know what, Riana? It kind of worked. I _am_ pissed off. I'm going to go back and get Shinji on the same page with me if it kills him. I'm going to show you, the First, and that old bitch Misato. Just to see what happens. When we're done with that fucking Angel tomorrow, you're going to know what a _real_ Eva pilot can do." To Riana's surprise, Asuka playfully punched her shoulder. "You know, I really _do_ hate you, Sister Riana. Well done." Asuka practically skipped out of the garden.

Riana sat in shock for a long few minutes after Asuka was gone. "What the hell just happened?" she said aloud.

She did not have much time to think about it, as the PA system began calling for her to report to the Eva bay.


	22. Danse Macabre

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter concludes this story arc, which is why it's long and took so long to get done! Hope you like it._

 _The Geofront_

 _Tokyo-3, Japan_

 _1 November 2016_

Riana Arashikaze was awoken by a hand shaking her shoulder. With effort, she struggled out of a deep sleep. Her eyes slowly opened to see Maya Ibuki standing over her. "Mmmnff?" Riana groaned.

Maya took that as a sign that Riana was awake. " _Ohayo,_ Riana-san."

Riana rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Five."

"In the AM?"

"In the _very_ AM." Despite Ritsuko Akagi's orders, Maya spoke in English. She assumed correctly that Riana would be lucky to understand even her own native language with only five hours of sleep. She offered a cup of coffee—hot, black and strong. Riana's left hand grabbed for it, but Maya held it out of reach. "No, not until you get out of bed."

Riana sat up in bed, rubbed her eyes in a vain effort to wake up, and then gratefully accepted the steaming mug. Two shots of the coffee and she was _very_ awake. "Holy crap," she breathed. "Ibuki-san, what is _in_ this stuff?"

"I don't know. It's Dr. Akagi's blend."

"It's like going ten rounds with a boxer!" Riana took another drink. "Why are you getting me up now? I didn't think I had to report until 7 AM."

"Dr. Akagi ordered it. Not her idea," Maya insisted, feeling the need to defend her sempai. "Commander Ikari's. You're to report to his office as soon as possible."

" _Hai._ " There was no point in delaying it, so Riana swung out of bed. She wore a robe over her underwear; Ritsuko had taken pity on her the night before and allowed her to stay at NERV instead of sending her home. They had trained until midnight. Even after the doctor had gone home, the night shift kept up the regimen until she was finally dismissed. It was more of the same grueling pace: more exercise in the plugsuit, more weapons training in the Eva, more forced marches around the Geofront. Riana did not complain: the cockpit of EVA-03A was now as familiar as her old room back in the convent. Her only break was a short dinner and an all-too-brief soak in the heated bath NERV maintained for its employees. Riana now understood why bathing was held in such high regard in Japan. As she sipped at the coffee, Maya laid the gray plugsuit on the bed. "I'll be outside," she said, and left the room even as Riana began to strip. She would have been mortified to do this before, but was too sleep-fogged to care. The hiss of pressurization was actually welcome, and the slight squeezing around her abdomen was enough to finally wake her up. _At least there were no weird-ass dreams this time,_ she thought.

Riana finished the coffee as she followed Maya to Commander Ikari's office. The other girl left as Riana entered alone. Not so alone, actually; Ritsuko was there, standing next to Gendo's desk. If either of them had slept, they did not show it; if either of them were sleepy, they did not show that either, though Riana did note the two coffee cups on the desk. "Pilot Arashikaze, reporting as ordered, sir." Riana came to attention.

She had spoken in Japanese, but Gendo spoke in English. "Good morning, Pilot Arashikaze. Did you sleep well?"

 _Uh oh,_ Riana thought. Gendo actually sounded almost friendly. That probably meant that she was really in for it. "Yes, sir."

"But not enough?"

Riana decided to be truthful. "No, sir. But I can get by on five hours of sleep."

"Good. Think of it as combat training. The Angels do not keep the same sleep patterns as we do, if they even sleep at all." Gendo motioned at a report on his desk. "Dr. Akagi tells me you have been doing relatively well in training. Enough that we can, perhaps, trust you with a little independence."

"Sir?"

Gendo steepled his hands. "This morning, Pilot Arashikaze, you will be undertaking your first march in your Eva outside the Geofront. Naturally we do not intend to fight the Angels right here, so you will need to learn how to maneuver your Eva through the streets of Tokyo-3 and the mountains around it. You will be escorted by NERV helicopters and ground vehicles, and of course will be in contact with NERV at all times, but otherwise you will be independent—even more so than even the other Evas, as 03A does not need an external power source."

Riana could not suppress a smile. This was very good news. If they were going to allow her out of the Geofront, that meant she had won some trust from Ritsuko. She searched the doctor's face for some hint of approval, but Ritsuko was a very good poker player. "Yes, sir," she said. "Thank you, sir."

"Naturally, any property damage you inflict will reflect poorly on your training. I might remind you that you are still on probation, as it were. Twice you have disobeyed orders to stay away from Pilot Soryu." Gendo raised a hand to forestall Riana's stammered explanation. "In both cases the initial contact was accidental, so I have not considered it grounds for dismissal. However, you should remove yourself from Pilot Soryu's presence next time."

 _If there is one,_ Riana mused to herself. She abruptly remembered today was D-Day, as it were: Israfel was due to wake up, and it remained to be seen if Ryoji Kaji's mad plan for a coordinated attack would work. She needed to know. "Commander, will I be needed against the Angel?"

"At this time, Pilot Arashikaze, if you are needed against the Angel, we will have already lost the battle. EVA-03A will be provided with full weapons and ammunition magazines for weapons training, but you are not, repeat, _not_ to engage the Angel. Your weapons will be offline and can only be activated here."

"Yes, sir. I never intended to go after the Angel alone, sir. I'm not suicidal," Riana assured him.

Gendo did not answer that. "Go ahead and get to your Eva. The reason why you are going out so early is both to test your abilities with a lack of sleep, and at this hour, Tokyo-3's traffic is relatively light. We can hope you won't step on some unlucky commuter."

"Absolutely, sir. I will not let you down."

"We shall see. Dismissed."

Riana bowed deeply to both of them and left.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, she was on the surface—for the first time in her Eva. It was still dark, with only a dim lightening of the sky in the east to show that dawn was on its way. The floodlights mounted in the Eva's shoulders gave her plenty of visibility, and in any case EVA-03A was equipped with lowlight vision devices. Riana knew that because Ritsuko had already forced her to "manually" launch her Eva through dark passageways, with no lights. She spotted the guide car below her.

"Status, Pilot Arashikaze." Ritsuko's voice was crisp. She had said nothing while they were in Gendo's office, and Riana had no way of knowing what her mood was. Gendo had conducted the entire briefing in English, but now the orders were in Japanese. School was back in session.

"All systems operational, Doctor." Riana made a quick visual check. Everything showed green, except the weapons systems, which were red; they were, of course, offline. She could use the targeting system, but that was all. Far below her, the engine rumbled quietly, which was reassuring.

"Very well, Pilot. Move out. Keep the guide in sight at all times."

"Yes, ma'am." Riana lightly stepped on the control pedals. EVA-03A moved forward as smoothly as it could. Walking the machine was now almost second nature. The guide car was well-lit with red and blue lights, and she followed it. Since Ritsuko did not hurry her, Riana kept her speed low. Even so, it was hard not to overtake the guide car: EVA-03A covered half a block with every stride. When they made turns, Riana was careful to use the sticks as well as pedals to maintain her center of gravity; she was very careful where to put the Eva's hands and feet, because now a misplaced foot or hand could stomp a parked car or tear through a building. It was a new experience, but after some nervousness, Riana found that she could handle it. She hummed a little music to herself: Kazuko Bishamon mentioned singing as a good way to relax. Riana was not about to sing out loud, but no one seemed to mind a little humming.

Before she knew it, the guide car had led her out of town and into the forested hills northwest of Tokyo-3. There were still obstacles out here, but much fewer—just electrical towers and the occasional house or outbuilding. The road was wide enough and reinforced, obviously with Evas in mind. The guide car turned off and Riana stopped the mecha. "Doctor?" she asked, unsure.

"Now comes the orienteering part of today's exercise, Pilot Arashikaze," Ritsuko intoned, almost sounding bored. "GPS coordinates are being downloaded into your computer. You will follow them to checkpoints. It is not timed, and will take most of the morning…" Ritsuko's voice trailed off. There was silence.

"Dr. Akagi?" Riana radioed. "Dr. Akagi?" Nothing. "Lieutenant Ibuki? Radio check."

Maya's voice came on. "Stand by, Riana."

* * *

Ritsuko stared at the GPS coordinates. This was not the map she had created the evening before. That route took Riana to the north, over the mountains, then in a circuitous route to the east before circling back to Tokyo-3. Based on the Magi computer's projections, it would take EVA-03A far away from any potential battle area; by the time she returned to Tokyo-3, either the battle would be won by Shinji and Asuka, or everyone would be dead and it would no longer matter what Riana did.

This map, however, was much different. The route still took Riana north, but then it headed west towards the ruins of Nagoya—and Israfel. It then turned along the coast road and back to Tokyo-3. If Riana followed the route at a steady speed, she would still be back to Tokyo-3 by the time Israfel reactivated and began heading towards the city, but it placed her in unnecessary danger. Maya looked over her shoulder at Ritsuko, and her expression asked the question: who had changed the route?

Ritsuko knew the answer. She turned and faced the seat above and behind her, where Gendo Ikari had already taken up position. He returned her stare, and Ritsuko could have sworn that she saw him smile behind his gloves.

For a moment, she almost shouted at him to get down to the bridge and explain himself, though it would do no good and simply embarrass her. Ritsuko turned back to Maya, her face set in anger. _Why not?_ she asked herself. _It should make no difference. Gendo's doing this for his own reasons. And if she gets killed, so be it! Gendo can deal with Riana's grandmother, and the girl wants to be a martyr anyway. It's not my problem, and I'm tired of dealing with this charade._

She nodded at Maya.

* * *

"Sorry about that," Maya told Riana. "We were just doublechecking the route."

"So was I," Riana replied. The route was projected on her heads-up display. "That takes me awfully close to Nagoya."

Ritsuko came on the line. "Pilot Arashikaze, we believe it's time you saw an Angel for yourself. Not to worry—Israfel will not come online until well after you are gone— _if_ you don't dawdle. There's no reason to crash through the forest at full speed, but you will need to move with some haste, at least." Riana's mouth, even through the LCL, felt dry. Her heart rate went up, something she knew everyone at Central Dogma could see. "Do you understand your orders?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Riana flexed her fingers, closed her eyes in prayer, and pressed down on the pedals. EVA-03A moved out, towards Nagoya.

* * *

It was almost 45 kilometers to the ruins of Nagoya, and it took Riana nearly an hour and a half to reach it. At full speed, she probably would have made it in an hour, but it took awhile to pick her way across the ridges of Mount Ashitaka. The sun was now up and it promised to be a beautiful fall day. Two NERV VTOLs shadowed her, but only twice had they radioed her to change course. The highway was already long since cleared of traffic and the area evacuated of any civilians, since it was already likely going to be a war zone. Riana knew the intent was to allow Israfel to get to Tokyo-3, but there was no point in increasing the body count.

Her path would not take her into Nagoya's half-submerged streets itself, but only to the last ridge before what was left of the city's suburbs—what was marked on her map as the Goura Absolute Defense Line. Her sensors registered a good number of conventional tanks and artillery on either side of the highway, and as she reached the crest of the ridge, she saw blown-down and dead trees to either side, the results of the N2 bombs dropped on the Angels. Each tree was snapped off at its base and all faced the same direction, hit by an incredible shockwave.

And then she saw Israfel.

It was still a good two or three kilometers off, but there they were: the twinned Angels. One was amber colored and the other a dull white; as Riana zoomed in with her visual sensors, she could see scars in what she supposed was the Angel's skin, but none of the slagged and burned spots she had seen five days ago, in the immediate aftermath of the N2 explosion. It was already healed. Despite herself, Riana could not quite work up fear. Israfel just did not look intimidating. Its two halves were about the same height as her Eva—both EVA-01 and 02 would be taller. If anything, the image of the Angel was surreal rather than frightening. According to what she knew, if this thing reached NERV, it would mean Armageddon, but it did not seem real. It was if she met the literal Angel of Death, and found it to be a teenage, pimply teenager.

"Objective Point Five reached," Riana radioed NERV. "Enemy in sight."

"That's close enough," Maya replied. She sounded more nervous than Riana felt.

"Anything you want me to do? I've gotten a good look."

"You feeling okay?" Maya was genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine." Riana almost laughed. _What was I supposed to do,_ she chuckled to herself, _piss my plugsuit? I've seen scarier stuff in bad anime. Now if that thing was a tentacle monster, and coming towards me…_

Israfel moved.

Riana blinked. She adjusted the magnification. It had to be some sort of distortion—there was a distinctive heat shimmer off the ocean—or maybe looking at the thing through LCL was causing it.

Then both halves of the Angel took an abrupt step forward. Sand and water churned up around them. Then it took another step, in perfect unison. And then it was ashore, heading inland, heading towards her.

At first Riana's mind could not process the information. This _had_ to be another test, another weird scheme of Dr. Akagi's to scare her. Israfel was not supposed to activate for another three hours, and in any case, her Eva was not supposed to be able to set the Angel off, since it lacked an AT Field. "Um…Maya?" In her shock, Riana used the other girl's first name, somewhat impolitely. "It's…it's moving."

Alarms went off on her Eva: proximity warnings. Though EVA-03A was only a technology demonstrator, it was equipped with the same sort of sensor suite as the prototype Evas—and those were designed to detect Angels. It was certainly detecting them now. Israfel had accelerated, and it was now headed for her ridge.

Ritsuko's voice exploded in her ears. "Riana!" she shouted. "Get the hell out of there, _now!"_ Riana had never heard the doctor sound frightened, and the sudden realization that death was coming right at her at forty kilometers an hour spurred her into action. Riana twisted the control sticks and stomped down on the pedals. EVA-03A lurched dangerously, but remained upright as Riana ran down the ridge. A five-hundred year old shrine was in her path, and it was crushed beneath the Eva's left foot; she paid it no mind. Her heart raced, and panic rose nastily in her throat. Her eyes darted to the radar screen set in the left side of the instrument panel. Israfel's halves were so close together that they projected a single, lethal red dot. EVA-03A stumbled as she almost lost her footing, but the mecha's gyro compensated. Riana felt a warm sensation around her groin, and abruptly realized what it was. _Oh God,_ she thought in disgust, _I really_ did _piss myself._ The embarrassment actually cleared her panic, and she regained the control she had nearly lost.

"I'm clear," Riana reported, surprised that she was feeling short of breath. "EVA-03A clear," she repeated. "It's following me, though."

"We can see that." Ritsuko's voice was a little calmer. "Riana, I want you to turn southeast, away from the highway. I don't think you activated Israfel, and it may not sense you."

"Roger." Riana turned slightly, and 03A turned southeast. This would mean the Angel could cut the corner and close the distance, which was now about five kilometers between them. Riana watched the radar display. Israfel seemed not to follow her. "I think it's working."

* * *

Back at Central Dogma, Ritsuko watched the giant projection before the bridge. Misato stood next to her, puffing; she had made the bridge from the elevator to the parking garage at a run. Israfel's twins continued to move at a steady pace in a shuffling, almost comical walk. Either by eyesight or whatever the Angels used for sensors, it was obvious that it had seen EVA-03A, but it was not turning to follow. Israfel was either so intent on Tokyo-3 that it ignored the Eva, or as Riana had not attacked, it deemed it no threat. Nonetheless, Shigeru Aoba ordered a squadron of VTOLs into position, ready to give covering fire in case Israfel changed its mind—or minds, as the case might be. "What the hell happened?" Misato asked.

"I don't know," Ritsuko told her. "Israfel activated three hours earlier than Magi projected."

"Did Riana do it?"

"I don't know," Ritsuko repeated. "I don't think so. Maybe we missed our projection…we missed something. I don't know." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Where's Shinji and Asuka?"

Maya glanced over her shoulder. "EVA-01 and 02 are ready for launch, but the pilots have not responded to the alarm!"

"Dammit!" Misato ran off, towards where the two pilots shared a room.

* * *

Riana nearly laughed again, this time with relief. It was obvious that Israfel was not following her now. _Now that's a heck of a way to get introduced to combat! I wet myself. Heh. Better not ever let Asuka find out. For that matter, I better not tell Rei or Shinji either._ She intended to tell her grandmother, though. Running in terror from an eldritch horror wasn't exactly combat, really, but it was now something she shared with her relative, even just a little. Rissa Arashikaze would get a laugh out of it, of course. _Another Arashikaze warrior,_ Riana grinned, _even if she's a little weak in the bladder._

"Whew," Riana said aloud, over the open channel. "Maya-san, what's the ETA on EVA-01 and 02?"

There was a pause. "Uh, EVA-03A, we don't really, uhm, have that information yet," Maya replied. "We're still working on that. Ah, not long."

Riana's grin faded. Maya sounded worried, and she had never used the Eva's designation, always calling Riana by her last name. Something was wrong back at NERV. The Evas should have been launched by now. Riana tried to open a channel to either 01 or 02, but there was only blank windows; the pilots were not in their mecha. She almost asked Maya what was wrong, then decided against it; it sounded like the bridge crew was busy. She would ask one question, however. "Roger, understood," Riana said, keeping her voice calm. "Um, what are my orders?"

Ritsuko's voice came online. "Trail the Angel at a distance. Do not approach it under any circumstances. Maintain at least two kilometers distance." Another pause. "Pilot Arashikaze, your sensors are the most advanced we have on scene at the moment. We're downloading your telemetry to the other Evas. As soon as Shinji and Asuka are ready to go, they'll be launched."

"Roger that." Riana turned the Eva and took a parallel course. She stayed on the ridgeline; Israfel was following the valley towards Tokyo-3, now about twenty kilometers away. Israfel was making good time, and she was having trouble keeping up: EVA-03A was crashing through woods, whereas Israfel had a nice highway to follow, as well as flat rice paddies. A cloud of VTOLs followed the twinned Angel, which ignored them. Riana cut a little closer than she should, to find somewhat flatter ground. Israfel did not change course, but she thought she saw one of the triple eyes—there was no other analog she could think of—turn in her direction. "Central Dogma, EVA-03A," Riana sent. "I hate to bother you, but what happens if these things _do_ try and attack me?"

"In that case, run," Ritsuko replied.

"Okay, but what if I can't get away? Can you bring my weapons online?"

* * *

Ritsuko hesitated. EVA-03A was equipped with only its internal weapons—unlike the prototype Evas, 03A was given its own weapons rather than picking up external weapons from the various buildings scattered through Tokyo-3, though certainly it could use those as well. For now, 03A was equipped with a single shoulder-mounted thirty millimeter gatling cannon, as well as three batteries of missiles. It was not much, and the only reason 03A even had those was once more in its role as a testbed. Had the mission gone smoothly, Riana would have ended it with live-fire training on the ocean range.

 _Or was that the real reason?_ Again, Ritsuko looked back at Gendo, whose attention was on the visual display. _Did he know Israfel would activate early? Is he trying to put Riana in danger, to manifest these damned magical powers she supposedly has? If Riana is magical, did she somehow set Israfel off early? Even if I don't believe that, she's still a pilot. We can't have her going into this unarmed._

Ritsuko turned to Makoto Hyuga. "Activate EVA-03A's weapons systems and pass control to the pilot."

* * *

"Weapons at your command," Makoto told Riana. Riana went through the weapons loadout. Everything showed green, and crosshairs appeared on her HUD. Whichever way her eyes looked, the crosshairs followed them. She was not quite in range of Israfel, and had no intentions to open fire in any case. They were conventional weapons; at most, she might annoy the Angel. Still, it felt good to have some offensive weaponry at her disposal. Riana had trained with these weapons, including live fire in the Geofront, and it made her feel at least somewhat in control.

She had backtracked down the mountain and was now behind Israfel, at a distance of two kilometers. The Angel paid no attention to her, but now the going was much easier. The crosshairs centered over the white Israfel's broad back. _You bastard,_ Riana thought, _if I had something that could get through that damn AT Field of yours, I'd use it right now. I don't mind shooting someone in the back._ She kept her finger alongside the trigger.

Riana checked the navigation display on her center multifunction display. Tokyo-3 was now ten kilometers away. They were already skirting the southern ridges of Mount Ashitaka, and Mount Fuji gleamed in the distance; even in the warmer post-Second Impact days, there was still just a skein of snow on Fujiyama's peak. Riana wondered how she noticed such details at a time like this. A car skittered out from behind a building, obviously some civilian who had not gotten the word and was running, now that the Angel was safely past. It ran onto the highway in front of her, and without thinking, Riana snapped the control sticks to one side; without even breaking stride, she dodged the car. She did not even realize what had happened until it was past.

Riana realized she had done it. She had achieved Kazuko's _muga,_ action without thought. _Well, I'll be darned. It_ did _happen!_

The range to Tokyo-3 was now six kilometers. One more ridge, and the city would be in view. The VTOLs began moving into an attack formation. Riana looked at the two windows set to one side of her visual display, which should be displaying Shinji and Asuka by now. They were still blank. "ETA on the Evas?" she said into the open link.

"Riana, clear the channel," Ritsuko snapped back, which answered Riana's question. Israfel began to mount the ridge. Another kilometer, and the Angel would clear it. Another kilometer after that, and the Angel would be even with the apartment building Rei and Riana lived at. And another kilometer after that was NERV. A third window opened and Riana saw Rei appear, to report that EVA-00 was manned and ready for launch. Riana knew that Unit Zero was not quite ready for combat. Something was very wrong.

And that left open only one course of action. Riana remembered her grandmother saying that a hero was someone who could not just sit there; they had to do something. She did not feel like much of a heroine, but she was in position to do something. _I am an Arashikaze,_ she told herself, _and just like my dad, I am not going to sit here and do nothing._ Riana ran up the speed on her Eva. The distance to Israfel closed to a kilometer, then half a kilometer. The crosshairs went from gold to red, indicating her cannon was in range and locked on.

She pulled the trigger.

Thirty millimeter depleted uranium shells spewed from the gatling cannon and crossed the distance between EVA-03A and Israfel in an eyeblink. The first shells fell short, churning up a rice paddy and cutting down two trees. The next scored solid hits—or would have, had the AT Field not stopped them in hexagonal shapes. Riana held down the trigger and swept the cannon to the right, hitting both halves of the Angel. The AT Fields detonated the shells short of the Angels' skins, but it stopped and, in perfect rhythm, turned to face her.

"Riana, what in the name of God are you _doing?!"_ Ritsuko shouted.

"Buying time." Riana took her finger off the trigger for a second to avoid jamming the gatling cannon, then opened fire again. She concentrated on one spot, trying to keep the recoil from throwing off her aim. _Aim at the center,_ she heard Kazuko say. _Feel the target. Aim at the center._ The AT Field seemed to bend a little. A chime in her ear told her that the missiles were now in range, and she fired a flight of those as well. They curled out in thin streams of white and hit the Angel. The AT Field snapped back into place; the missiles were not getting through. Riana fell back, then gave them another burst from the cannon. Bravely, the VTOLs opened fire as well, sending canisters of rockets into the target. Nothing got past the AT Field. "Come on, cocksucker!" Riana shouted. "Come and get me!"

Without warning, energy coalesced from Israfel's tripartite eyes and fired as a single beam. Riana tried to dodge, but it hit EVA-03A in the chest. She blinked away spots on her vision and her eyes went to the damage display. Half her armor had buckled under the heat, but it had held. _One more shot and it's through, and I'll probably get killed._ She triggered another flight of missiles, but these missed entirely.

Ritsuko was yelling something at her, but Riana ignored it. She was probably in trouble now, but whatever was keeping Shinji and Asuka, Riana knew she needed to give them time. The possibility that she was about to die did not really cross her mind; death was abstract, the whole situation didn't seem real, and she was really too busy at the moment to worry about it. Since she could not take another hit from Israfel's beam, the logical thing to do was close the distance. Riana stomped both pedals to the floor and EVA-03A shot forward, towards the amber half of Israfel.

The AT Field absorbed the kinetic energy of the impact between Eva and Angel, but Israfel rocked backwards. It did not fall, but just for good measure, Riana triggered another flight of missiles, more for moral effect than anything else. She reared back and drove both fists against the AT Field. Something flickered, just for a moment. She did not penetrate the field, but there was something there.

"Hey," Riana said aloud, "I think I hurt it!" Israfel was moving slower. It staggered, or seemed to. The hexagons of the AT Field once again flickered; for a split-second, there was an opening. She was out of position to punch, but she fired her last missiles. The missiles seemed to crawl out of their tubes, slow enough that she could read the warnings written in English around the warheads. _Maybe I can…_ She threw a fist behind the missiles, even as they impacted into beautiful orange blossoms around the AT Field, which seemed to be dented by the missile impact; it dented further, bending but not breaking under the pressure of EVA-03A's armored fist.

Abruptly Riana remembered that Israfel was not one, but two Angels.

EVA-03A rocked forward with impact as razor-sharp claws tore through the mecha's rear armor, carrying away the gatling cannon, which fired the last of its ammunition as it crashed to the ground. Riana instinctively slammed backwards and to the right, but the Eva was already unbalanced and fell backwards into the rice paddy. Israfel's white half towered above her, and she could see the blades on both hands whirring slowly, enough that she could count each individual blade. She threw a fist at it, but was a fraction to slow to block, as the blades cut through armor on the arm and went for EVA-03A's head. Unlike in the prototype Evas, the pilot sat in the head of the machine.

"Ah…shit," Riana sighed. Her voice held no fear, just resignation. She'd tried her best, and now this stupid looking thing was going to kill her. She had given the Angel a bit of a scare, though. That was good enough. She'd seen the elephant, and she had not run away.

The screen derezzed in front of her, cutting off the approaching blades, and she felt herself being shoved down into her seats as explosive bolts fired. The entry plug was ejected backwards, and only the LCL kept her from being crushed by the sudden G-force. The plug tumbled through the air and retrorockets fired. Riana, gritting her teeth, could feel the sudden deacceleration.

Something hit the entry plug a terrible blow from the side, everything went upside down, and Riana's world went black.

And then there was nothing, nothing at all.


End file.
